58807.15-1630 - "Familiar Company"

Familiar Company

Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith, XO
Lt. Cmdr Shirik Lektar, COO and 2XO

Stardate 58807.15 16h30
Location: Deck 1 XO Suite

*** 

Greggory had no reason to be nervous.  This was just a meal between two old friends to congratulate one of them on their promotion. Of course, they hadn’t had time to sit down together since the launch, and even that had only involved a quick bit of small-talk to catch up. It had been a while since they had taken the opportunity to set aside time for a more in-depth conversation.

He scanned his quarters one last time to make sure he had everything neatly packed away. Right on schedule, he heard the chime of his door as he crossed the space.

“Enter.”

The door slid open and there she stood. Shirik was dressed casually, in black slacks and a deep purple sweater, one of her favorites. Her hair was out of its braid and in a loose ponytail instead. Her Kemla was sheathed at her thigh. She had resisted the urge to bring her PADD with her, which went with her nearly everywhere all the time. Instead in one hand she carried a small fabric pouch of some kind. 

As she stepped inside, her gaze automatically swept the room, taking in every detail and filing it away before coming to rest on him. "Hi," she greeted him, her expression, like her dress, a bit more casual than normal.

Greggory quickly looked Shirik over and welcomed her in. "Have a seat." He walked over to the replicator. "Computer: One cocoa and one water, both 45 Celsius." When the two drinks appeared, he carried them both over to the table, setting the water in front of her. "For your Klaas. I figured you'd prefer that to something more... festive," he said, gesturing to the fabric pouch. 

She moved into the room, her movements precise and efficient while at the same time unconsciously graceful, and settled into a chair, placing the bag on the table in front of her. She smiled a bit at his thoughtfulness. "Thank you." She reached into her pouch for a fuzzy black pinch of Tasmos and sprinkled into the hot water. The acrid bitter smell began to waft from the mug. "I usually have some to wind down after shift." 

He smiled at her, as well as the familiar acrid scent. "Can't wind down too much, unfortunately.  Who knows what we're going to find when we get to the Kepler. But I thought it was important to take what time we can get to celebrate your promotion."
He raised his mug and held it over the table. "A toast, to finally climbing beyond a department head. I know it's been a rough journey."

She smiled and raised hers in mirror. "Truth be known, this is my third appointment to Second Officer, but the others were so short lived I never really got to take the position and do anything. Hopefully that will be different here." She took a deep sip from the mug and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the hot brew searing down her throat to settle into her stomach. "I've been ready for it, preparation-wise, for a while. But I wasn't sure I'd ever get to make it AND keep it."

He savored the rich cocoa and let the warmth relax his shoulders. "I'm confident you can do the job, and I think you've shown you're capable of avoiding your previous transgressions. Obviously, the captain agreed."
He leaned forward, resting his arms on the table as he smiled at Shirik. "Ur k'dum mila panelt. Ur k'chiv mila, kroshar."

She raised an eyebrow as she inclined her head. "An interesting way to say it. The phrasing does sound very Rennari. 'To having more power'...." she smiled a bit. "You've been practicing. Technically correct, but the k's are not necessary in this context, it makes it sound formal, or like you're a beginner." Her smile grew a bit at that. "But you're improving. I am curious, though, as to what 'previous transgressions' you're referring to."

He nodded gratefully at her compliment on his progress. "The problems that kept this position from you and the incident on DS9 that resulted in your, fortunately temporary, demotion. I haven't heard of you getting 'disproportionately aggressive' in a while," he said with a wink. 

Her smile faded. "That unfortunate incident was a result of my experiences in the Mirror Universe. As long as I never see that man again there won't be a problem." She sighed and took another sip. "My aggression is never disproportionate to the situation. Except in that case, and even then... I had no way to know he wasn't *that* Hadek."

"You've gotten much better at socializing since you came aboard the Constellation, making more of a positive impression with your fellow officers. Don't get me wrong, I doubt many would call you 'friendly,' but you aren't as harsh, even with your juniors in Ops."
He gave a bit of a smirk, "Still the perfectionist I remember working with, though, which has served you quite well.  You're looking as fit as ever." 

"I have been told many times in the past that if I want to move up I need to learn how to interact with my crew and earn their loyalty and respect. I'm still working on it. Back home respect was simply expected by your title. You didn't really need to earn it. At least I hope they're not calling me a bitch behind my back any more. Not that it matters to me, as long as they do their jobs well." She nodded. "That has been work as well, but I'm satisfied with my fitness level now. I am also working on my mental discipline and expanding my weapons training."

"I'm sure you're excelling at those, too, or pushing yourself until you do." He took another sip of his cocoa, more than half the mug drained, and set it down on the table. "So, we're celebrating your promotion: what do you want to eat? I'll follow your lead." 

She considered as she sipped from her mug, cradled in both hands. "I've always wanted to try pizza. Everyone talks about it so highly, and there seem to be so many variations of it..."

Greggory actually paused, blinking slowly as her words sunk in. "Do... do you have a flavor profile you want to try? That's one of the delights of pizza, you can do just about anything with it." 

"I think, for my first time, I should go with something simple. Just the base pizza, maybe with some mushrooms?"

Greggory turned and, due to the complex specificity involved, manually entered the order. The replicator seemed to take a little longer than normal, but it soon finished producing a single-serve pizza, topped with three different mushrooms and a milder cheese profile.  After Greggory transferred hers to the table, the replicator powered up again, producing a heavier pizza with a variety of meats and vegetables.  He placed both pizzas in the middle of the table and then turned as the replicator made a couple of smaller plates and utensils, which he set in front of Shirik and his own seat.

He nodded at the other pizza on the table. "If you feel adventurous after your first piece, we can have some of each."

She eyed both pizzas and sniffed the aromas they gave off. "It does smell good," she said, gingerly removing a slice of the mushroom pizza and placing it on her plate. She then cut the corner off and stabbed it with her for before popping it into her mouth. She chewed, experiencing the flavors. "I like it," she said. "What's on yours? Is it spicy?"

He transferred a piece of the combination pizza to his own plate, slicing a bite off and using his fork to keep any loose toppings from falling off.

After swallowing his mouthful, he shook his head.  "It's rich. The peppers are mild and give it a crispness that compliments the savory sauce.  The meats have a little bit of a kick to them, but certainly not anything acrid enough to offend your palate."

"Klaas is more acidic than spicy I think," she said. "I seem to have a low tolerance for spice in foods. Maybe that's something else to work on," she mused as she cut off another piece of her pizza to eat.

"Well, there's plenty of varieties of pizza we could try, at all levels of spice. I'll be happy to escort you through that culinary adventure. We can trade pizza for linguistic lessons," he said with a soft smile. 

She laughed softly at that. "There are many other foods I have not tried. I tend to stick to simple boring foods. I can't really eat what I would at home since I have no way to make it yet. But many of our foods are quite boring compared to the variety I've seen since joining Starfleet. But I'm willing to give you more lessons either way."

She took another bite of pizza and washed it down with bitter klaas. "Am I correct in assuming that you put in a good word with the captain about me?"

Greggory smiled at Shirik and ate a few bites in comfortable silence before she broached a new topic.

"Yeah. Captain Chevalier asked for my input. She had already narrowed it down to a few candidates among the senior officers, so I gave her my impressions of each and what I saw as the pros and cons." He avoided eye-contact as he spoke, focused on transferring another slice of pizza, and tried to minimize his influence on the decision.

She studied his face as she listened to his answer and chewed. "Does she know we're friends?" she asked. 

Greggory shrugged as he took another bite to avoid answering immediately.  After he swallowed, he responded, "She knows we served together. I spoke of being familiar with your methods and performance." 

She sipped her klaas, her gaze never leaving him. She noted his apparent discomfort. "Is there something you're not telling me?" she asked.

He sighed, using a sip of cocoa to clear his throat.  

"I admit that I may have argued more strongly for you because of our friendship, but nothing I said to her was inaccurate or misleading.  I think you are the most prepared when it comes to knowing how to utilize both ship and crew. I think you're able to be brutally honest and cut through all niceties when the situation calls for it. From me, the captain wanted open communication and trust with regards to the time to debate and the time to follow orders, and I said she could expect the same things from you."

He looked up and made eye contact, gazing back with a warm smirk.

She considered as she took another long sip. "That may be true, but you may have done yourself and the captain a disservice by not disclosing a potential conflict of interest. I hope it doesn't cause any problems in the future. I don't know exactly who the other candidates were, but I agree with your assessment. I was the best choice. And I don't say that with ego, but with fact." She gave him a small smile in return.

That got a genuine laugh out of Greggory, turning his smirk into a large grin. "I didn't want to do you a disservice by associating a presumed bias. That shouldn't be used as justification to deny you the position. Glad to know you objectively agree with my assessment, however." 

"I have found that if someone wants to deny me a position, they need little justification," she mused. "But now, here I am, and I intend to do my best now that I can actually BE a Second Officer hopefully for more than a few days. I won't let your confidence in me be unjustified." She raised her mug in a salute.

He matched her salute. "You've never yet given me a reason to doubt you." A smile settled over his face as he dug in to wrap up their meal.

After he had returned all the dishware to the replicator, he gestured to the couch under the window. "Do we have time for a bit of a lesson? I'll even refresh our cups." 

"All right, I can stay a bit longer, then I have to get prepared for duty. This is the first time I've been on a mission to find a missing ship." She slid her now empty mug over to him and rose gracefully to her feet to cross the room and settle once more onto the couch. While he got the drinks she looked out the window, watching the stars streak past. 

As the replicator hummed, Greggory watched Shirik cross the room. Once complete, he joined her on the couch, leaning against the arm. "Do you have somewhere you'd like to start, or should I give you another demonstration of my practice." 

She took the mug into her hands with a smile. "Go ahead, show me what you've learned." she said, blowing in the mug before taking a sip of the acrid liquid.

He set his mug down and leaned forward, throwing an arm over the back of the couch. Focusing on her face, he softly spoke. "Nims nara sa mila vav, lin choth. I think it is that lovely sweater you're wearing." 

She laughed softly. "I nims sa mila uth," she grinned. "That was very good, if an odd compliment."

Greggory smiled, leaning back again.  "Like I said, the color just seemed to pop more tonight.

"Uth," he repeated.  "I'm guessing that means 'blue.' I still need orange, green, and brown and I think we'll have covered the basics."

"Lalir, stin, and sam," she smiled. "Although I've never seen anyone with orange eyes. My peoples' eyes are either purple like mine or red, ren."

"At least now, if I want to know the Drokari for a particular object, I can indicate it with colors," Greggory said with a soft laugh.
"Lalir.  Stin.  Sam," he repeated softly to himself a few times.

"Yes. Rennari like me have those two colors, they indicate our social status. Only those of Noble Houses like me have the purple eyes. The other races can also have violet or red eyes, but other colors as well. And the colors do not have any social meaning beyond their value because of rarity." She took another sip.

"Value," he repeated, realizing the implications.

"Was there ever fashion around having specific eye color of... servants of the other races, given rarities?" He shrugged, "I honestly don't know how far into the minutiae your planet's system went, but I've read of other cultural examples." 

She shifted on her seat a bit and took another sip. "The status of any House is reflected in its... possessions. Servants with rarer physical traits are more highly sought after, and more valuable. The Royal House, of course, would have all the most valuable things." She paused for a moment. "Selective breeding is done these days, to enhance desirable traits among the offspring."

"Naturally," he said sarcastically, taking a deep sip.

It wasn't an easy topic between them, but he also knew Shirik didn't exactly approve of it, either.  It's just sometimes difficult to discuss someone's culture without saying something judgmental. 

He shook his head. "Let's try something else. What words would you use to describe our new ship, especially compared to the Constellation?" 

She turned her gaze out the window once more, letting the flowing stars settle her as she took another sip of the hot drink. "Kem.. mav.. ni'krika... Small... fast... brave.." she mused.

"Ni'krika," he sat with it longer than the other words.

"Not afraid? How else could 'krika' be used? What about the antonyms: large and slow (which I object to as a description of the Constellation, as Chief Engineer)?" He asked, adopting a mock-offended gesture at the suggestion.

"Krika means coward," she said. "It's an insult on my world." she smiled a bit then. "I never said the Constellation was the opposite. It was much larger than this ship, though. Ni'kem... ni'mav... sed... strong."

He smiled back at her.  "Well, I did say, 'in comparison to the Constellation,' so forgive me to think you were calling my ship slow." 

He blinked.  

"Wait, you did call her slow. Ni'mav. Not fast. I'll have you know the Constellation could go faster and longer than the Vanguard. And we had some of the best damage-control teams in the fleet," he said with a bit of pride.

She rolled her eyes with a smile. "You misinterpreted what I was saying. You asked about the antonyms, so I gave them to you. I can see the confusion. Sed was meant of the Constellation, not the rest. Touchy engineers..."

Greggory had his head turned away, nose pointed towards the ceiling as he listened to her explanation, but he couldn't keep the smile from his face.

"Very well. Apology accepted," he said, facing her again, knowing full well that she wasn't apologizing."

He looked at the chronometer nearby. "It's nearly 18h00. If there's any prep you want to take care of before we arrive at the Kepler's location, you'll probably be wanting to head out." He finished off his mug and set it on the table to clean up later. 

She gave him a teasing poke in the ribs while his nose was in the air, and got to her feet with a smile. "Yes, I have things to take care of. Thanks for dinner. I'll see you on the bridge." She turned to make her way out of the room.

He stood with her, walking her to the door.  "I really do appreciate your smile, by the way. I know how momentous that is."

He stood in the doorway, giving her his warm smile. "Let's try to make these dinners a semi-regular event, even without the celebratory air." 

"Indeed it is," she teased. "That sounds good." She flashed him one more small smile before slipping back into the neutral Shirik everyone knew, before anyone else in the hall might see her, and continued on her way.