Posted by Lieutenant Commander T’Aria (XO/ Navigation Officer) in PreSIM: A Change of Scenery (Arrival, OPEN)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander William B. Grey (Chief Science Officer / 2nd Officer) in PreSIM: A Change of Scenery (Arrival, OPEN)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander T’Aria (XO/ Navigation Officer) in PreSIM: A Change of Scenery (Arrival, OPEN)
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
[OOC: This is open to anyone who wants to hop in!]

Daylight filtered through the trees, casting soft shadows onto a quaint garden. It crept over spindly strands of Mah’ta organised in careful rows along its edge and kissed the barely ripened flowers of a plomeek plant. Languidly, it enlivened every drowsy fibre until it was exhausted at the foot of a rubber mat. T’Aria relished the subtle warmth it afforded her toes. Vaguely reminiscent of her homeworld, she found comfort in its embrace. It grounded her.

T’Aria took in a soft breath, filling her lungs with the earth’s herbaceousness. She lifted her hands to her chest, slowly floating to a crouch. Every inhale brought her a step forward, her body slicing through the air in a controlled glide. She seemed to float. Mind sealed from the world, T’Aria obeyed the flow of energy. She lifted until her knees were slightly bent and chased her fingers apart. 1. 2. 3. When she peeled her eyes open, she found herself in her original position - one fist nestled by her side and the other pressed against an invisible shield.

The world remained unchanged. A light breeze nagged at the flowerbeds and teased the serpentine brook weaving through its centre. The grass swayed to an echoless command, and soft, fluffy clouds passed overhead. Peace. She released her breath.

“Someday, you must teach me-” a voice shattered her silence “-whatever that was.”

T’Aria stifled a groan, tugging at the belt of her tunic. She tensed her shoulders and turned to face her newfound company. She’d mastered the art of weaponising splinters of silence into a dark glare, and he was not exempt from its chill. He was never exempt.

“I doubt you possess the discipline for Suus Mahna,” T’Aria shifted to her knees and rolled the mat into a tight coil. She regarded the man - whose lithe, greying features afforded him a sense of (self-proclaimed) wisdom - and shook her head.

“I caught on to yoga, didn’t I?” He challenged, blue eyes shimmering with mischief. “And that demands serious mental discipline.”

“Yoga is the equivalent of Suus Mahna for children, then add training wheels.” She hoisted the mat under her arm and hooked her fingers into her belt. “But yes, you have ‘caught on’ to yoga.”

“Then let’s remove the ‘training wheels’,” a smirk etched into his lips.

“Brother,” T’Aria opened her mouth to argue, but she knew it was futile. Dekun was an obstinate man who refused to back down. Some days she wondered how they were related; others, she saw herself in his willful gaze. She refrained from the urge to quarrel.

“Sister,” the older man coyly grinned and jabbed his head to an eccentric little home just beyond the garden, “ready for breakfast? I made biscuits and tea.”

T’Aria cast her gaze up the trail. He was a splendid cook, she had no reservation about Dekun’s skill, but she didn’t have the time to enjoy a meal with him. “I’m sorry, brother.” She tilted her chin in a slight gesture of remorse. “I have a meeting to attend to.”

“Oh come on.” Dekun rolled his eyes. “You’re leaving for.. who knows how long, tomorrow. Can’t you spare five minutes for your miserable older brother?”

“There’s nothing ‘miserable’ about you,” T’Aria quipped. “I’m sure you can manage one meal alone.”

“Hmph. After all I’ve done for you,” Dekun ‘tsked’ and waved his finger to the clicks of his tongue, “this is how you repay me.”

“Dekun,” T’Aria stopped beside him and rested a petite hand on his shoulder, “you are utterly insufferable.”

“Love you too, sis.” He sang.

His eyes burned into her back as she ascended the steps to what’d become her temporary home. Dekun had been generous to house her during command training. He’d offered support - biscuits while she studied and a strangely skilled sparring partner - and managed to irritate her just enough to keep her on her toes. T’Aria had come to him with a budding sense of empathy and left with a sliver of humanity.

She wouldn’t admit it, both for her pride and Dekun’s whim for taunts, but she’d found solace in his company. Still, his white-picket-fence life and preference for simplicity left T’Aria feeling empty. She didn’t know she could miss a ship as much as she did Chernov. So, as much as she loved her step-brother, T’Aria was ready to return. She’d found a new endeavour - a challenge she hadn’t considered until recommended to her - and a part of her was almost excited.

–

T’Aria rolled her neck to each side and stepped from the transporter pad. She’d forgone mental preparations. If Chernov had endured as the Vulcan remembered her, she trusted forethought would leave her gravely disappointed. And gravely underprepared.

She offered the transporter operative a placid expression, vaguely reminiscent of a smile, and voiced a quick ‘Good morning.’ Hoisting her bag over her shoulder, T’Aria made a swift movement toward the door.

She hadn’t brought much. A few sets of robes and a mat, uniforms and personal items, and - of course - a strangely out-of-place lion she’d been jokingly gifted. It wasn’t much because she didn’t own much. The majority of her belongings had gone with the destruction of Vulcan. She didn’t see the point in lugging around a bunch of replacements.

Tugging at the hem of her tunic, T’Aria took a brief note of the time. 0830. Early, but not intolerably so. She doubted the morning coffee had gone cold. ‘Perfect,’ she mused. The hour lent her the leisure to jog her muscle memory. It’d been well over a year-and-a-half since she’d step foot on Chernov. She trusted it’d be a moment before her feet took over. So, rather than stress herself with time constraints, she kept a moderate pace and wove around what she knew would be the first of several bends.

Lt. Cmdr. T’Aria, incoming XO.

Standing down the corridor from the transporter room was a familiar figure. A tall thin young man in the bright blue uniform of a science officer, his uniform still had the Lieutenant Commander stripes he had last time they met. William hadn’t seen the former Chief Medical Officer since the bridge crew and a few select others were kidnapped and placed on a strange station and used for some odd scientific experiment. He seemed to be standing at attention but T’Aria would be aware that the young Scotsman did always stand in such a stiff and uniform manner when on duty

“Commander T’Aria, welcome back” He said with a slight bow of his head “I was just on my way to greet you” He handed the Vulcan a PaDD “I hereby pass all authority and duties of executive officer into your capable hands” The document was a mere formality signing over his duties as acting XO over to her, something that could have been done at any time but he seemed anxious to get it over with.

CSO, 2O

T’Aria lifted her gaze to a familiar face. Grey’s tense, infallible demeanour failed to surprise her, but the urgency in his gesture was new.

“Commander Grey,” she greeted in kind and took the offered PaDD. T’Aria briefly examined its contents, attributed it to a gesture of formality, and returned an approving nod. “And I hereby accept your delegation,” she spoke evenly, “thank you for your service.”

T’Aria appreciated Grey’s promptitude, but the physician within told her there was more to this than met the eye. “Are you well, Grey?” She lifted her hand to the corridor in an offer to walk. She hadn’t had the opportunity - or perhaps she hadn’t made the opportunity - to know Grey before. She wouldn’t allow history to repeat itself.

– Lt. Cmdr. T’Aria, incoming XO

William gave the new first officer a tight smile “I am, thank you” He took a step to the side, allowing T’Aria to walk first and joined her “I don’t particularly enjoy the responsibilities of Command” He changed the subject “I do have to admit I was surprised when I heard you were returning here as XO. I didn’t know you well but I never had the impression you were very interest in Command” He spoke with the calm emotionless tone most people associated with T’Arias species “I gather you went to Earth for Command certification?” He asked.

CSO, 2O

“Command is..” T’Aria’s voice tapered into a pensive hum “..an ‘acquired taste’.” She slowed her pace to match Grey’s, raising an eyebrow in mild curiosity. He was quick to change the subject. Intrigued as she was, T’Aria suppressed the knee-jerk reaction to investigate. She didn’t possess the credentials nor the desire to pester him into opening up. Talking was his prerogative.

Although Grey’s observation caught her off guard, it wasn’t unfounded. T’Aria was comfortable in her role. Between aberrant coworkers and endless dramatics, the duties and responsibilities of the ship’s medical officer had yielded her a lifetime of excitement. She refused to submit to content, but those years had provided a sense of purpose.. and endless entertainment (or in her case, vexation). It seemed odd that she’d given that up.

“It was never my intention.” T’Aria affirmed. She didn’t see the logic in mulling over the minor details. “That said- yes, I eventually transferred to Earth.”

Vulcans weren’t considered adventurous - change seemed almost taboo - but a challenge was an open door that T’Aria had curiously pursued. Command was riddled with nuances she hadn’t begun to consider. There were holes and blurred lines that, in medicine, would’ve been the difference between life and death. It wasn’t a puzzle, nor an equation solved by tweaking a variable. The variables were constant but their values were fickle. T’Aria couldn’t say she chose command for a singular reason, but she’d admit to a change of perspective.

Adjusting her bag, T’Aria chased away the concept of command in favour of something she assumed Grey might be more inclined to discuss. “Beyond the weight of your recent assignment,” she paused by the turbolift, “have you pursued any personal projects or scientific endeavours?” Small talk evaded her, but weaving work into the conversation made it at least tolerable.

– Lt. Cmdr. T’Aria, incoming XO

William blinked twice at her question, he didn’t give another reaction but it could be inferred that he was surprised by her question.”Well I’ve recently started my latest doctoral thesis, I felt I haven’t been as active in my academic pursuits as I have been working on my career. I managed to write a handful of papers on our last few missions that have been approved for publishing, mostly astrophysical analyses and some work on my visual information gathered on the strange aliens we’ve seen.”

CSO, 2O