Posted by Civilian Sisnil Zoi (Intelligence Consultant) in One Step at a Time

Posted by Ensign Dradvia (Medical Officer) in One Step at a Time

Posted by Civilian Sisnil Zoi (Intelligence Consultant) in One Step at a Time
Posted by… suppressed (104) by the Post Ghost! 👻

Sisnil chuckled and let her go. It only took a second to feed the cat, and then he set his radio on his end table. “There. You set yours up and they’ll be ready to go.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia stood there watching him, feeling a little lost when he let her go. She picked up her kit and the other radio. She shifted them awkwardly in her hands alternating hugging them to her and trying to hold them more naturally. “Okay. Um… I guess… uh, good night, Sisnil.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled and patted her shoulder gently. “Night, Dee,” he said.

~ Zoi

She left, feeling confused, and it showing on her face. Inside her quarters, Dradvia set the radio beside her bed and turned it on. Then she put her medkit away. She sat on the edge of her bed to change and then glanced nervously at the radio. She took her clothes and went to the far side of her room to change.

After a few moments, Sisnil could hear her foot steps, the sound of the mattress shifting, and bed sheets being moved. There was shifting and the sound of a pillow being fluffed, then quiet.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil fell asleep quickly that night. He could hear her shift and move and the illusion of someone else being there helped him. He slept deep and the next morning, he slept late.

~ Zoi

It was the opposite for Dradvia. She was awake most of the night. Not because of the radio, but because she couldn’t stop replaying everything over and over that had happened.

She managed to be calm and just focus on the book she was reading until Sisnil fell asleep. She could tell by the rhythm of his breathing. After that she tied to sleep, but her mind wouldn’t quiet. She kept replaying everything that happened that day and before. She slept less than an hour after quietly crying herself to sleep. She woke up with barely enough time to arrive on time for her shift.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil was around the ship later on with Simon. He turned up at Sickbay during her shift, leaning on the wall someplace he knew she’d find him, grinning mischievously.

~ Zoi

Dradvia was patching up a science officer that got too involved in an experiment. Nurse Klie’so noticed him first and with a too happy grin and already forming the gossip she walked over to Dradvia. When she was finished Klie’so turned so she could see Dradvia’s face. “You’re gentleman is here.”

Dradvia looked up at her quickly. “What?”

“Over there,” the nurse pointed behind her and Dradvia turned to look. Her face flushed red, her breath caught slightly, and butterflies made her stomach feel funny. Klie’so grinned with glee. She couldn’t wait for her break.

She walked over, bitting her lip just a little, and getting even redder, “Hi.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Hey,” Sisnil said, giving her a quick hug. “You didn’t sleep well, did you?” He asked. Of course he could tell that, by sensing how she felt.

~ Zoi

The hug surprises her, but she liked it nonetheless. She shook her head. “I don’t get a lot of sleep really. I have more bad nights than good.” It was hard to tell if he had slept or not, she was too enchanted by that mischievous grin. Had she kept him awake? She glanced around to see who was nearby and dropped her voice. “I didn’t bother you did I?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“No, on the contrary, I slept great,” Sisnil said and smiled. “I hope you’re doing something about that. Sleep meds or something.”

~ Zoi

“I forgot my Delta wave machine last night.” She should probably take something, but she had strong aversions to taking drugs. She smiled at him. “I’m glad you slept well.” She reached out and pet Simon.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He cursed himself for forgetting she didn’t like drugs. “Remember it tonight, then. I don’t need an exhausted doctor,” Sisnil said and smiled again.

~ Zoi

Dradvia nodded, “I will,” but the answer was somewhat distracted, her mind whirling through what she had been thinking about the night before, what had happened the night before. “Even if I’m exhausted the other doctors are very good. You would be okay until I felt better.” Though if he was really hurt he would probably die because he would refuse help from anyone but her.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Her thoughts amused him because she was right. He would accept help from her… Maybe Morris, but mostly her, only. “What if I only want you, Dee?”

~ Zoi

Why did her heart have to race when he said that. Why did her mind jump to things that had nothing to do with Medical care? She knew he could hear her thoughts and feel her emotions. Dradvia wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse. It was probably worse for him, to know what she wished for but could never have. That wasn’t fair to him. Her heart didn’t care what her mind thought. It raced and tripped all because he said he only wanted her.

Sisnil extended a feeling of acceptance and comfort. He smiled reassuringly at her.

“What if, no fault of my own, I couldn’t even if I wanted. Would you leave me alone just because it wasn’t me?” She would never leave him without care, but what if something happened to her. Would he let himself die, become seriously hurt and ill, because it wasn’t her? Would he leave her behind because of that?

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

His smile faded slightly. How unfair of her to put it that way! “Well, no… Of course not.” He backpedalled, rubbing the back of his head.

~ Zoi

“Okay. Just so we’re clear on that. You can have me, but you can’t cause yourself harm or refuse help if I can’t. And I will get sleep.” She would try anyway.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Only if I’m dying,” Sisnil said stubbornly. “Otherwise only you.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia crossed her arms and glared at him. “Not good enough. You wouldn’t know if you were dying or not. You’d convince yourself ‘it’s just a scratch’, and I’d wake up and you’ll be gone. Not good enough Cap’n Zoi. Not nearly good enough.” She was stubborn, as much as him and she wasn’t budging on this.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil loved this side of her. He grinned again and patted her shoulder, “Don’t worry, Dee, I’ve lived this long, haven’t I?”

~ Zoi

Dradvia scoffed. “By sheer luck from your own admission, and a medic that has to threaten and manhandle you into cooperation. No, luck runs out, and people will die if they try to force you to get care. No. Absolutely. Not.” She stomped her foot slightly.

“If your promise is not as complete, forthright, and unconditional as mine, then there is no reason for me to give you my promise.” She wouldn’t give in no matter how charming he was. Even if he kissed her… she hoped.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Thanks for that idea, Dee. But he wouldn’t try to change her opinion like that. Charm her, sure, but… somehow kissing her to make her change her mind felt different. Instead he smiled and sighed. “Then I promise I will try and that’s better than anyone else would get from me.” And then he kissed her.

~ Zoi

Dradvia nodded, her arms dropping as she relaxed. “Oka…mfmumble.” She stiffened, alarmed by his sudden and all encompassing presence in her space. Then her heart caught up with reality and she shyly relaxed.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“On a side note,” Sisnil said softly, his voice gentle, still within kissing space but not quite touching her now, “In what way will people die trying to make me get care?”

~ Zoi

Dradvia blinked once as she breathed out, “What?” Her mind didn’t want to start again. She had to think of what they had been talking about, and her brain didn’t want to. “If they tried to force you or restrain you, you’d fight back and people would get hurt.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Hmmm.... I’m glad you think I’m that scary,” he said and then he hugged her again. “I gave you my word, Dee. You have nothing to worry about.”

~ Zoi

She grinned, her voice soft between them, “You know you’re scary.” She cuddled into him very slightly, wishing they were anywhere else. “I know. I won’t worry.” Not about that anyway.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled. “Do I worry you that much?”

~ Zoi

“No,” she shook her head. “No, I’ve seen you train.” Sisnil didn’t worry her. What Dradvia worried about was when he was gone. Would he be okay then. Would the Syndicate hurt him for being gone? Would he get hurt and Eli not have the resources to care for him? Being a pirate was dangerous, no matter how good he was. She worried how she would manage when he was gone from her life.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled. “The Syndicate won’t hurt me unless they think I’ve done something wrong. I can’t say Eli will always have the necessary resources but I will say that med kit is a huge help. And you?” He whistled. “You’ll be fine. Because I know you will be.”

~ Zoi

Sisnil had more faith in that than she did. She hadn’t been fine before him. Just existing, but at least she was helping people. Her life would go back to that. She inhaled slowly and resisted the urge to curl into him.

Her brow furrowed slightly. “Is everything okay? Simon? Why are you in sickbay?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“No, no, nothing like that. Everything is fine.” Sisnil shrugged. “I just wanted to see you.”

~ Zoi

“Oh.” Delight shivered down her spine, set her heart racing all over again, flushed her cheeks, and gave her a giddy feeling in her stomach. “I wanted to see you too.” If he hadn’t been telepathic he might not have heard that sodt admission. Dradvia hadn’t been sure what she would say or do, but she had been eager to end her shift.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil hugged her again. “When does your shift end?” He asked softly, looking at her.

~ Zoi

She was flustered, and he could tell from the way her thoughts stopped and started and tripped and whirled. “Um… my shift? Oh,” she glanced over at the chronometer, “an hour.” Why couldn’t it be over now?

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled again. “Then I’ll be in the ship’s mess in an hour.”

~ Zoi

“Okay.” It took her a moment to realize she needed to step back and go back to work. “I’ll see you there. Be good Simon,” she scratched the cat’s ears. She looked at Sisnil a moment, biting her lip just a little, like she was trying to decide something and then she hurried back into the main part of sickbay.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil headed out of sickbay. An hour later, he was at the table in the corner of the mess with two trays and Simon tethered to him, sitting in the seat next to him. He was working on a PaDD while he waited for her.

~ Zoi

The rest of Dradvia’s shift had been poignantly uncomfortable. Nurse Klie’so chattered the whole hour about Sisnil’s visit. “I’ve heard rumors about him. He’s so devilishly handsome, and that grin when he came in. I thought I would swoon, and it wasn’t even for me. He has that whole rougish space pirate look going. Mmmm Mm! If he would hug me like he was you, I would beg him to throw me over his shoulder and well…” Klie’so laughed and hummed to herself. Dradvia didn’t say anything unless it was about their work.

Klie’so was pretty, outspoken, fun, and not shy at all. The idea of her around Sisnil made Dradvia jealous and sad.

Dradvia arrived a little over an hour later to the mess. She glanced around and spotted Sisnil and made her way over to the table. “Hi.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Luckily for Dradvia, Sisnil’s interest in Klie’so would only go so far as a fling, no further. If he weren’t interested in Dee, anyway. He smiled up at her when he saw her and pushed the tray towards her. “Here, try this.” It was a Betazoid dish, some kind of soup.

~ Zoi

Dradvia glanced down at the tray and then sat in what she thought of as her usual seat. Against the wall, facing the room, and with Sisnil between her and the rest of the crowd. “What is it?” Her voice was soft, it had gained back some of that timid confused sound he hadn’t heard in a couple of weeks. More shy than uncertain. She picked up the spoon and blew across the steam once and then tried it.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“A cheap, Betazoid soup. They give it away at food pantries,” Sisnil told her. “It’s.... Like a comfort food for me.” It was sweet and savory with a sharp berry like taste. The broth was thick and flavorful, almost like a chowder but not quite.

~ Zoi

“Cheap? But it’s so good.” Dradvia tried it again. It was rich and the berry flavor was delightful in a soup. “I like this.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled. “I’m glad.” He ate some of his own. “Like I said, it’s a bit of a comfort food.”

~ Zoi

“I can taste why.” It was warm and unique. She remembered Sisnil mentioned briefly that he and Noril had been on their own. Getting a hot meal and probably a warm place to sleep were the makings of good days for them. Things probably weren’t quite so hard for just a little bit. “Do you and your brother eat this a lot on your ship?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil shook his head. “No.... I mean, Vash cooks, but everybody else prefers Orion food, considering most of them are Orion, so…” He shrugged.

~ Zoi

“Smell is the strongest trigger of memory, so that is why the aroma of food reminds us of things. Food also triggers memory through taste which is why we have ‘comfort’ foods.” They could also trigger bad memories. Orion food was good, decadent, and delightful but Dradvia couldn’t stomach it. “That’s why we give patients their favorite meals. Happy memories increase dopamine which leads to a desire to get better and continue to feel happy.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“So if you’re caring for me you’re going to feed me this?” Sisnil asked, grinning at her.

~ Zoi

“Of course.” Dradvia couldn’t help it. His grin was contagious, and she grinned back at him. “I want you to get better, so you have to want to get better. Also there is the whole issue of your body needing fuel to heal. You have to eat, so as much as possible, you should have things you like.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He grinned. “It reminds me of.... Well, you were on the right track. Good, warm food and a safe place to rest.”

~ Zoi

Dradvia nodded. “I can understand that. I was lucky. I was always in the orphanage, but some of the kids had been on their own before they were there. It took them awhile to accept it wasn’t going away. We were all like that to an extent.” She glanced down at the bowl, then at him, and back down. “I can’t cook, but you’ll be safe and warm.” Her cheeks flooded with heat as if she’d just said the most risqué thing ever.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled at her and shrugged, “You don’t have to cook.” He gave her a playful look, “Noril will do it.” And then he laughed.

~ Zoi

“Do you cook when he is sick?” The idea of Sisnil in an apron, standing over a stove with a pot of soup sent her into quiet giggles.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He grinned at her giggles. “Yes. No promises on taste. I am not a good cook.”

~ Zoi

It wasn’t hard to picture Noril; she just had to picture a sick pitiful Sisnil. Then trying the absolutely horrid soup. Would he scarf it down anyway or would he complain and rib Sisnil for how bad it was? Both scenarios were equally comical to her, and equally endearing. It brought back a happy memory of when she and Kryssa were kids, trying to take care of each other. The local doctor scared them (because he was a doctor) and they didn’t want to go, so they would try to nurse each other so they didn’t have to tell the adults and go see him. Their attempts at nursing were pitiful and comical now. “I’m sure Noril appreciates the thought.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil nodded. “He does.” He smiled, a little sadly. “He’d tease, but he’d also say, it doesn’t matter, it’s hot food and you tried.”

~ Zoi

Her laughter died as she took in his expression. “I’m sorry. I keep making you sad. I don’t mean to.” She would have to do better at remembering not to mention Noril. No discussing the past. For him anyway. She sighed. “Kryssa was a decent cook. Well as long as she didn’t have to heat it. She always burned herself. Her food was good, but she always got hurt.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled slightly. “I may also be guilty of that.” He said, shaking his head. “I’ve been burned more than once, I’ll say that.”

~ Zoi

She shook her head in mock-disapproval. “Well you have a small burn chamber now. Big enough for a single hand or such at a Time. Slow, but it will do the job.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled. “Giving us all the quality of life improvements, huh?” He reached over and hugged her. “Good.”

~ Zoi

“Decent medical care shouldn’t be a luxury, it should be a riiiighhhht…” Dradvia trailed off as he hugged her. He was in her space, he was her space. He kept doing it more and more frequently, but Dradvia didn’t know how to react. She liked it, but she was nervous and anxious too. “I… uh… well you get pretty hurt just training. I need,” her voice cracked a little on the word, “to know you’re taken care of.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil knew she was nervous, he tried not to overdo it. But he was a physical person and it was natural for him to want to. “It shouldn’t be, but in some places it is.” He smiled at her and met her gaze. “I only got hurt that once.” That wasn’t quite true, but usually it was just bruises and scrapes, nothing major.

~ Zoi

It wasn’t that Drasvia minded, but it was going to take time to get uses to it. She sat back and gave him that really stern glare. “I don’t believe it, so don’t feed it to me. Just because you only sought help once doesn’t mean you haven’t been hurt. You won’t ask for help, or admit it even if you know you need it.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Okay, what exactly is your definition of needing help?” Sisnil asked.

~ Zoi

Dradvia gazed at him intently. She k ew she would have to be very specific because Sisnil would be in his interpretation. He could hear her mind working through the puzzle. “When an injury or illness, even if it can heal on its own, will cause an impairment to your movement, cognitive functions, reflexes, or telepathy, that that impairment will increase the danger to yourself and those around you. Any illness or injury that has not improved significantly within two days, exposure to an infectious disease, preferably before you show signs of sickness. or any injury that results in unconscious.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“You doctors are so cautious,” Sisnil teased. He could work with that - after all, it would take a lot of “impairment” to make him a danger to others.

~ Zoi

Dradvia shook her head. “We doctors have strong aversions to the damaging of the living body. We have an even stronger aversion to those that allow damage through sheer stubbornness. Besides,” she looked down with that awkward shrug and then back at him, “I have to make sure you’re okay, no matter what.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil took her hand gently, a look of surprise and… touched-ness crossing his face. “Me? Why?”

~ Zoi

She didn’t know how to explain it. Dradvia didn’t understand her feelings. She just knew it would destroy what was left of her. She shrugged..she was confused and uncertainty. “I just… I…” she looked down at where he was holding her hand. “I lost Kryssa. I can’t…” I can’t lose you, too. “I just need to know you’re alive somewhere in the universe.” Sisnil wasn’t hers. She had no right or connection to him, but deep where she hoped he couldn’t hear, he was all she had. She k ew he wouldn’t stay, but she just couldn’t lose him.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled and hugged her gently. “I will be okay, Dee. Promise.”

~ Zoi

He was hugging her again! This time she rested against him for a flicker of a moment. “Okay,” she smiled tentatively at him. “I better finish before my soup is cold.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled and sat back in his own seat. He started eating his soup again too. “I thought I’d show you something I like to eat.... Knowing you don’t like Orion foods, I knew this was best.”

~ Zoi

“I like it,” and she really did. It was different, but very good. “You can share whatever you want with me,” Dradvia said tentatively. “Just because I don’t like certain things, you can still share with me. Really.” She looked up at him and quickly back down. “If we avoid everything that might bother me, I might as well just stop breathing.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil laughed lightly. “Maybe I can change the association you have with some of those foods.” He finished his bowl and then his drink and smiled. “And if you ever stop breathing by the gods I will follow you into the afterlife and strangle you, got it?” It was a joke, but a serious one.

~ Zoi

Dradvia liked the idea of new memories, especially with him. She finished the soup in content quiet. She returned his smile when he smiled at her. His words wiped it immediately from her face. Her reaction was instantaneous. Her head dropped, eyes lowered, face blank, hands clasped in her lap, shoulders rounded. “Yes Sir,” she answered immediately.

She hadn’t meant she was going to stop breathing, just to illustrate how hard it was to avoid things. She had angered him; she knew she had because even at his most intimidating he had never threatened her. She didn’t explain. Explanations weren’t wanted, just compliance.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil’s expression immediately softened and squeezed her hand. “Dee, no, I didn’t.... I don’t.... I’m sorry. Please, I don’t want you to....” To be afraid of him.

~ Zoi

She didn’t squeeze his hand back, she didn’t move, except for the slow rise and fall of her breath. She was utterly still and quiet. He seemed to be expecting an answer but she didn’t know what he wanted. Maybe he wanted to be sure she understood? “I won’t harm myself. I promise.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

He looked supremely guilty and nodded. He shrugged, “I just didn’t mean to scare you, is all.”

~ Zoi

She relaxed as he said it. She reevaluated what he had said and how he said it. He had been smiling, but his tone had seemed so serious when he said it. She had misunderstood? He had scared her, but (and she gave it serious thought) she wasn’t afraid of him. “I’m sorry I misunderstood.” She dared look up at him; it was hard, but she did so he could see her eyes. “I’m not afraid of you,” she said softly.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled a little, but he still seemed guilty. “I know.” He said, knowing she was, a little bit, and there was nothing he could do about it.

~ Zoi

She sighed. It had been such a nice day, and she ruined it. She didn’t know how to fix it. He probably didn’t want her around now. It was pitifully ironic that if this was someone else, she would talk to Sisnil about it. Why was it, every time she started to feel just a but normal, her trauma snuck up and ruined everything for her?

She stared at her glass, turning it back and forth. “I was scared, but that’s not your fault. Everything scares me. I just never know what will and when. You are intimidating, you’re scary when you want to be, but I’m not afraid of you, Sisnil. I’m sorry.” She paused around the lump in her throat and the weight in her chest from holding back tears. “I told you, I have nothing to offer you. There are too many scars.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil reached over and took her hand. “It’s not you. You are fine, Dee.” He said softly. “And I don’t like that I am the one that made you feel otherwise.”

~ Zoi

“You don’t make me feel that way.” He was the only one who didn’t. He was the only one who made her feel just a tiny bit normal. Like the way she felt and reacted was okay. She felt safe to be herself around him. That was her mistake. She could never relax, never let her guard down because then she did something like this. She sighed again. “You make me feel normal, even when I’m not.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I did, though. I didn’t mean to, but I did.” Sisnil squeezed her hand gently. “Even if I don’t usually, I still did it.”

~ Zoi

“I know you didn’t.” All she wanted was to run away and cry. Well not all, not even the first thing. What she really wanted was to go back five minutes and fix her reaction to his words. But time travel hadn’t been reliably invented yet. She wished she could curl up in his arms and just cry. Let Sisnil fix all the broken pieces of her. She was too ashamed for that though. So what was left was to run away and cry. She couldn’t though. She had promised not to run away and leave him.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I don’t… like to see you like that.... Scared and.... obedient.” Sisnil said softly. Like an animal, like a beaten pet. “And don’t you dare apologize, that’s not what I want. I don’t want you to hide it either,” he said, pointing at her.

~ Zoi

Her mouth opened to utter the apology and then quickly snapped shut. Dradvia chewed at her bottom lip unsure of what to do or say. She wanted his hand back, to hold on to it. No, what she really wanted was for him to hug her, but then she would cry. Everyone would stare at them more. She was certain everyone already was. “O… okay.” Her breath shuddered out around the word and the lump in her throat.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil gave her his hand. “It isn’t your fault.” He said softly.

~ Zoi

Her fingers wrapped around his hand a little desperately and they shook slightly. “There is no one else to blame, Sisnil.” Her breath released on a defeated sigh.

She was quiet for several long moments, her whole consciousness focused on where their hands folded together. Then she realized she needed to say or do something. But what?

“Thank you for sharing your soup with me.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil smiled. “I hope to share many more things with you.”

~ Zoi

Her eyes came up, and she smiled just a little back at him. “Like what?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Foods and cultures, yes, but physical space as well,” Sisnil replied smoothly, meeting her gaze with one of his looks.

~ Zoi

Dradvia flushed. Her eyes glanced everywhere but kept going back to him. “I know very little about different cultures’ foods. Everyone goes to Risa to experience ‘Risa’ the pleasure planet. They want to indulge in our culture, so there is very little available outside our own. You can get it, but usually at very exclusive places. Not anywhere an orphan would get to go.” She chose to ignore the last part because she didn’t want to hurt him again. She thought she knew what he meant. It wasn’t that she didn’t think about it, but she didn’t know if she would ever be ready. What if she thought she was, and it went horribly wrong? Wanting more was one thing, but trying, failing, and losing what she did have with him was too frightening.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil didn’t mind the lack of physical intimacy. Well, he did, but it wasn’t a deal-breaker. All he wanted was Dee’s happiness. He smiled and took her hand. “Then allow me to introduce you to all that I can. Because I’ve been everywhere, man.”

~ Zoi

She watched their hands with a sense of longing and emptiness. She offered him a slight laugh. “You’re a pirate, of course you have. But your wording is strange.” Was she missing something? An inside joke maybe?

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil laughed. “It’s an old Earth song. Written in earth year one thousand nine hundred and..... something.” He said, and shrugged. “The artist was this… Farmer guy, or something.”

~ Zoi

“I will have to look it up in the computer. When I was at the Academy, I heard so many different styles of music. I could never keep them straight where they came from. Do you like Earth music?” That seemed like a safe question. Dradvia hoped it didn’t bring back memories that made him sad.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I like music from pretty much anywhere,” Sisnil said. “As long as it sounds good.” He smiled. “It reflects the culture of the person who wrote it.”

~ Zoi

A little grin came back to her face, “A pirate that is cultured and sophisticated? The women of the galaxy will be defenseless to falling under your spell.” Cultured and sophisticated weren’t words that typically came to mind with the word ‘pirate’. Rougish. Charming, suave were. Then again those went along well with cultured and sophisticated. Dradvia could see Sisnil walking into a grand formal event, tux and a smile, and charming the jewels off every person in the room. And they would do it with a smile on their face.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil couldn’t say he hadn’t done that. A number of heists succeeded because he was charming and sophisticated. “Oh, not just the women,” he said and winked at her.

~ Zoi

She did laugh then, “Of that, I have no doubt.” The implication didn’t bother her. “I can’t imagine anyone is immune when you choose to charm them.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“No one I’ve encountered,” Sisnil said, grinning. “I wasn’t trying to charm you, and yet, here we are.”

~ Zoi

“You weren’t?” She sounded hurt and disappointed. Was she so easily taken in? Maybe, but she still she liked being around him. “I guess it’s good I’ve not been charmed then.” It was a lie, they both knew it, but to admit it? Oh that would just put another feather in his ‘the best pirate ever’ cap he wore.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil laughed. “I wanted you to like me not the front I put on when I’m fleecing someone,” he said, “so it’s a compliment.”

~ Zoi

“I do like you.” And then she looked down at her clasped hands. She sounded so eager, so happy, when she said it. She was going to end up leading him on, and … that just led to misery.

“What is your favorite music?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“I wouldn’t say I have a favourite type exactly,” Sisnil replied with a shrug.

~ Zoi

Dradvia almost rolled her eyes before she caught herself, though Sisnil could sense the feeling. “You would make an excellent diplomat or politician. How am I to get to know you if prevacate every answer? Alright then, what are you listening to recently?”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

Sisnil laughed and smiled. “Softer songs with a defined melody, I guess.” He said. “Now, let’s talk about me as a diplomat.... I could cause a war in about three seconds.”

~ Zoi

“So could every diplomat to have ever been,” Dradvia said. “But think of all the good you could do for your side if you went in and charmed everyone instead? Of course you would probably have a spouse on every planet.”

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer