Posted Oct. 23, 2022, 2:18 p.m. by Ensign Kovan ch'Sirhc (Engineering & Communications Officer) (Abigail G)
<snip>
At the next session Kovan arrived on time. Stiff and formal at first, but gradually loosening up as the session went on. He truly had a passion for languages. Anyone who has been in the field for as long as him had to. As Rand mastered the language, Kovan came up with new ways to test her knowledge or critical thinking skills. He seemed to know an endless supply of dialects, but really he was creating them on the spot using other languages he knew as the base.
Kovan was a very good teacher and for all that he acted like a jerk around the ship, he never belittled her for asking a question. Granted Rand didn’t ask inane or pointless questions. She enjoyed the challenge and learning the dialects. Secretly it reminded her of practicing for parts.
“You’re really good at getting the accent and inflection right. Not many people pick them up so fast.”
Ensign ch’Sirhc COMMO/ENGR
Not thinking about it, “I had voice training to help me pick up dialects and accents for my different roles.”
Yeoman Rand
Kovan’s brows came together in consideration, “Voice training? Like singing?” Even as he said it that didn’t seem like it was the answer. He gave it another moment of thought, then asked, “Or for performing?”
Ensign ch’Sirhc COMMO/ENGR
Rand went red and then all the color drained out of her face. Oh lords and ladies what did she say? She would have swallowed if her throat hadn’t suddenly closed in panic. She dropped her hands to her lap to hide the ringing behind her desk. “P…performing.” She didn’t know if Kovan was going to start asking questions or not, but he couldn’t tell! She had to keep it a secret, she couldn’t let people find out. She blurted out, “Please d… don’t tell.”
Rand
Kovan had never seen a human turn white so fast. For a moment it was like he was struck dumb, unable to grasp the meaning or reasons for Rand’s reaction. Unable to fathom how a simple question could turn to, well, this. “I won’t?” He said, then quickly added, “Of course I won’t. I, um, not like I got anyone to tell.” There was a pause of uncomfortable silence where Kovan tried not to stare at Rand. Just what was he supposed to do now? Should he attempt to comfort her? No, that would end in disaster. Perhaps change the subject? “. . . Performing as in acting?”
Kovan
There were plenty of people to tell, especially those that would pay money for the information. And not just the tabloids. Her voice actually sounded strained, even having a slight stutter. “Th…thank you.” She swallowed hard. She wanted to leave, run away, hide. But if she did Kovan wouldn’t teach her anymore. (Of course he would, maybe, but that was her anxiety talking and it knew all the arguments and ways to make her worry and fret and doubt.) She nodded slowly. “I w…w…was the actrice principale (lead actress) for the Dionysian Actors’ Guild.”
Rand
Crap. This was bad territory. He needed to abort. Something. Anything. Just say something! “I have never heard of them before.” He half-blurted, half-confessed. Was he supposed to know? Was that a big deal? Maybe it was if this was Rand’s reaction to the story getting out. And here he goes blurting out that he’s never heard of them. Kovan held his breath, waiting to see if he his words either screwed things up further or by sheer dumb luck was somehow the right thing to say.
Kovan
Rand wasn’t surprised Kovan didn’t know. He hadn’t grown up on Andoria or served for very long. He had until recently lived outside or on the edges of Federation influence. The guild was very well known, but performed strictly way within the boarders. And if you weren’t into theatre, there was no reason to know. She could not freak out over this. Maybe later.... she would go freak out with Randy. Kovan hadn’t said or done anything wrong. “It is a niche interest. But it was…a long time ago, anyway.”
Rand
“Ah.” Kovan said, quite smartly and verbose to boot. “I won’t say anything about it. And I understand it. Things of the past are best kept there. And it has no bearing on you or how I perceive you now.” This is getting frightfully close to sappy territory. “Anyways, do you want some homework to work on. There’s still more to teach about tradealouge and now I know that I can give you something a little more challenging.”
Kovan
Rand was relieved to go back to the purpose of their meeting. She couldn’t believe that she let that slip. Almost 5 years and no one knew, she never told, and now this. She had to be more careful. She simply nodded her thanks quietly for his understanding. “I would, thank you. The more practice the better I get. I am enjoying the challenge.”
Rand
“Well there’s plenty to challenge you with.” Kovan said a little easier now that they had finally gotten past that awkward bit of awkwardness. He pulled out his PaDD and detailed Rand’s “homework” to complete for next time. He gave her several tricky dialects to decipher and threw in some challenging sentences to get her thinking outside the box. “The most important thing to remember with Tradealouge is that it’s a trade language. If you don’t know the basics of trading goods or services then you may miss something important. You should look into what the most valuable raw materials are. I don’t care where you are in the universe you are, everyone needs the same things: food, water and building materials.”
Kovan
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