Star Trek: Theurgy

Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

March 18, 2020, 03:15:48 PM

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LONG OVERDUE

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STARDATE 57622.37
APRIL 5
1830 HRS.

[ Lieutenant ThanIda zh'Wann | Senior Officer Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Top Hat 
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In the end, there were several reasons that Deputy zh'Wann had decided to pick up something specific in her own quarters that day, not just because it was long overdue. She had finished it - at long last - the evening before, and it was not something she'd drawn on the holodeck. No, the piece couldn't be a digital copy because of the specific depiction. She'd never trust any memory bank to store it. It would not have been decent towards the model in question. The oil painting, rolled up and covered in a cylindrical tube, would merely be shown at the model's discretion, to anyone she felt like showing it for. Ida's only regret over that was how it had taken her so long to revisit the piece and add the missing shading.

When she arrived at her destination, Ida pressed the chime, and waited for the invitation to enter, once she got it, she cleared her throat and stepped inside - knowing how this particular delivery might stir old memories. Whatever separation had grown between herself and the occupant of these specific quarters, because of her own trauma as well as stasis, Ida hoped to bridge it somewhat. Their conversations since the battle in the Azure Nebula has been scarce, the both of them caught up in duties given their roles aboard the ship, and when they did find the time to speak, they oft had too few minutes to spare.

"I hope I didn't come at a bad time," she said with a small smile, her antennae and eyes alike seeking out T'Less. "If you have plans already, this will not take too long. Either way, it's good to see you again."

Still in her duty uniform, Ida shifted grip on the metal cylinder underneath her arm, and held it out to her Vulcan friend. "As you might have deduced... I have found myself able to paint once more," she said, knowing that she'd told T'Less that she had ceased occupying herself with artwork when they spoke on the Memorial Terrace. She'd said she'd feared what she might put on canvas given what she'd been through on the Versant and other events during the Theurgy's voyage. "I finished it last night. I would have liked to finish it sooner, but I hope you approve."

The events surrounding the particular painting in the cylinder were, perhaps, embarrassing for the both of them. Nonetheless, Ida held no regrets, knowing that she'd asserted how she had a will of her own, and that T'Less had been there for her when she needed her. Much as the Vulcan, perhaps, had needed Ida at that specific time.

"Obviously, it's yours alone, and I keep no copy of it on the holodeck," she added, perhaps belatedly, and chuckled. She folded her arms underneath her chest, hoping that T'Less would find the result of that.... unorthodox modelling session pleasing.

The oil painting inside might have been far more bold in the depiction of the Vulcan if it hadn't been for the shading she'd added. In the unfinished state of the painting, T'Less had been visible in every little detail where she'd been sitting on a stool, with her feet upon the lowest rung, and with her hands resting on the edge of that stool - legs parted for that loose grip. While her chest was on display, her modesty was otherwise preserved by that pose. Even more so now, however, when the shading from the overhead light rendered her frame shrouded in suggestion rather than specific attributes. It was clearly her, of course, in how the ears, the cheekbones and the brow made it plain, but the way the light caressed her body otherwise, there was nothing vulgar about the depiction. It was rife with sensuality, clearly so by the intensity of T'Less' stare in the painting, but in Ida's eye, she believed she'd captured beauty veiled by shadow. Given the model in question, the beauty had been the easy part of the challenge.

"Do you like it?" she asked quietly once the model saw it for the first time. She cared very much for T'Less' opinion on it, admittedly. "I am sorry you had to wait for it for so long."

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #1 – April 02, 2020, 12:53:12 AM

[ Lt T'Less | Senior Officers' Quarters | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy | Stranger Here Myself ] attn: @Auctor Lucan 

A hot, dry wind plucked at her hair and the folds of her clothes as she overlooked the meteoric crater on whose ridges was built her home city. Viewed from here on the central peak, the buildings and temples were small matchstick constructions, occasionally catching reflected light from the crater sea. Behind her, the rustle of robes all too familiar, and the sensation of movement. Before she could turn and try, fruitless as ever, to see who was there, there was some nagging external interruption to her line of thought. It took her a brief moment to place.

The door chime.

T'Less opened her eyes, then leaned forward in her kneeling position and extinguished the meditation lamp in front of her borrowed shrine. The Vulcan stood, and brushed the creases out of the front of her loose pants. "Enter," she called. The doors revealed Ida, the Andorian's silhouette against the brighter lights in the corridor more familiar to her than most others on the ship.

The Deputy's uniform contrasted her own grey vest and ivory linen pants, but T'Less still offered a faint smile as apologised for attending unannounced. "I hope I didn't come at a bad time. If you have plans already, this will not take too long. Either way, it's good to see you again."

"Please, come in," she said. She couldn't help the curious glance at the tube Ida carried.

"As you might have deduced... I have found myself able to paint once more."

"That is gratifying to hear," she offered, sincerely. A painting within, then. 

"I finished it last night. I would have liked to finish it sooner, but I hope you approve."

Her eyebrow quirked for a moment as she wondered what she might have meant by that. Of course she would approve of her friend's continuing exercise of her creative talents. Or was it that the painting in that tube was meant specifically for her as a gift, and that it was the usual mild anxiety commensurate with offering an unknown against someone else's preference?

~You've forgotten,~ came an unexpected voice. T'Less blinked. Oh, that painting. What else could it have been? Evidently there was some lingering disorientation from the abrupt end of her meditation - she would have to get used to the practise sooner or later. It just didn't help that the only tutor she was willing to take was inside her own head.

She glanced at Ida as she confirmed there was only one copy - truthfully, that was a consideration that she had failed to make at any point prior to this, but she was grateful for Ida's discretion. As the canvas unfurled though, more memories floated forwards, unbidden, and they resisted dismissal. Remembering posing for this brought a wave of other, more physical memories, and a faint olive flush spread across the top of her chest and into her cheeks.

The representation was clearly of T'Less, though she spotted the myriad little differences and creative choices that Ida had made, all of which added up to a whole not entirely alike her. Is this really how she sees me? she wondered. The features a little more symmetrical, the gaze a little sharper, the harsh contrast between the light and the dark, the harder edges of her muscle and the more diffuse light around the curve of her breasts. It was beautiful.

"Do you like it? I am sorry you had to wait for it for so long."

"Well, I was in stasis for some of it..." she deadpanned. "I like this very much," she clarified. "Any flattery to the subject aside, it does your skill credit."

Not that she could very well hang it in the main area of her quarters for any guest to see. She was confident enough, but she was no vain narcissist. There was a frame over her bed, however, that might be suitable. It held nothing currently. For now, though, she carefully rolled it back up and slid it gently into its case, lest she accidentally damage it before she could protect it behind glass. She could have looked at it for longer, but she had a guest.

"Come, sit," she said, gesturing to the couch before the wide porthole. Beyond it, the ochre crescent of Aldea slid sedately along. "Have you eaten?"

It was some hours since her own last meal, and it would be agreeable to share dinner for once rather than eating alone. She rarely if ever felt lonely (her unique circumstances contributing to that) but companionship was something she rarely realised she missed until she had the opportunity to redress it. Their jobs meant that they were rarely in a position to meet, so she would take full advantage if she could.

"I hear we're leaving soon. And that we're to have... guests," she fished. She was hard-pressed to think of anyone happy that there was to be a Savi delegation aboard, however critical they'd be to the operation of the new engine. "Are you..."

The question ended before she could finish it. Ida was the picture of duty. She would do whatever was asked of her. But this hypothetical order seemed unfair in the extreme. But how to ask without patronisation?

"... comfortable?" T'Less tried.

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #2 – April 07, 2020, 03:31:18 PM

[ Lieutenant ThanIda zh'Wann | Senior Officer Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Top Hat 
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Whether she was comfortable with the Savi aboard wasn't really the question, as far as Ida was concerned. Rather, what she could do about it. Nothing, so what purpose have my level of comfort?

She delivered no such crass remark, however, for she understood how T'Less was merely looking out for her. She, of all the crew, knew the toll upon her that was affiliated with the Savi. Not just by what they had subjected her to, but what kind of madness that it had led to, turning one of the bondmates against her. Yes, she loathed that there was an alliance with her captors, but intellectually, she knew that it was a logical choice given the predicament of the ship and the mission ahead. Whether the aliens were being truthful about their... reform, she wasn't entirely sure of. Perhaps she didn't want to believe it, but as objective as she tried to be about it...

"It's difficult," she confessed to her friend, and raked a hand through her white hair - her antennae drooping for a moment as she stepped towards the viewport. The light from the planet surface stung her eyes a bit, but she frowned more from the vile emotions in her thoughts than the garish shine. She had been pleased to hear T'Less liked the painting, and she'd chuckled when she commented on Ida being guilty of flattering the model in the depiction, but the topic of the Savi had left that momentary joy behind.

"I have sworn to protect our crew, and I know it is in their interest - and the mission's - to accept this alliance with the Voice and his rebel Savi," she said, the bitter undertone likely unmistakable even if she had her voice turned towards T'Less. "Shelat, I find it difficult, though. Not just to accept it, but to believe they are being genuine in their approach."

Her blue eyes traced the struts of the shipyards the Vector was docked to, thinking of the observation pen and the insurrection against the captives. She thought of how they had fought Scions and the smaller Antes alike when she and her team reclaimed the Omega device. She thought of the xenobiologist Sclergyn, and how she had merely lied to make the rest of the bondmates comply with the experiment. How she had fooled them to think the Savi had any kind of interest in solving the declining birthrates of Ida's people. She might be an exile, and it was a long time she thought of her keth, but that didn't mean the Andorians meant nothing to her. It was still her home, and her people, even if she'd rejected their influence upon her. She walked her own path, but she knew where she came from.

"By Lor'Vela," she said quietly as she stood there, "how am I supposed to just credit the word of tormentors so cruel one day, and then allegedly reformed the next? They were ruthless in their pursuit for scientific discovery and cataloguing the species they observed, adding to their precious Archive, and now? Am I supposed to think that a change in their laws make them actually feel anything towards us? Legislation do no beget compassion, and we were animals to them!"

Ida took a calming breath, and sighed. Shaking her head, she turned back to T'Less, feeling conflicted about her feelings.

"My apologies," she said, unclenched her hands at her sides, feeling how cobalt blood returned to her knuckles. "I should be a good soldier and follow orders without question, but I don't know if I can stay true to the tasks revolving around the protection of these delegates. I have, so far, and done my duty. I have deterred any crew from challenging the Savi that work on that engine, even if I want to do so myself."

A moment of thought had her remember accepting the offer to dine with her friend, and she decided that it might be a good idea, unless T'Less had changed her mind after her little outburst. "Perhaps I just need some food - and good company - to get my mind off things," she said with a bitter laugh, and approached the replicator numbly. "I don't suppose you have more favourable news to share, be in in regard to the added torpedo launchers or some progress more close to heart... now that you're not constantly protecting the ship?"

It was rather amusing, Ida had found, how they both served the same purpose in their duty, only vastly different in relative distance to the enemy. She knew her own skills were called for when a more... personal touch was needed, but she envied the Vulcan in how she had the entirety of Thea's arsenal at her disposal when tasked to protect the ship.

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #3 – May 04, 2020, 06:13:12 PM

[ Lt T'Less | Senior Officers' Quarters | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy | Stranger Here Myself ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

True to form, it took Ida a few seconds to break through her usual deflections. T'Less could well understand the desire to remain closed off, whether the habit stemmed from simple circumspection or a means of defence. Or more likely in the Andorian's case, she was mostly unused to considering herself at all. Ida simply did. Feeling shouldn't enter into it. The irony of her appreciating that in someone given her own struggles with emotion was not lost on her.

"They too might be victims," T'Less said of the Savi, "but that does not absolve them of their crimes. Presumably, after this current crisis, some reparation can be sought." That was the longest of shots, considering the gulf of technological complexity between the Flotilla and the Federation, but it would at least be a test of Echtand's assertions that they had reformed to their earlier code that could be easier described as 'ethical' while maintaining a straight face.

Ida did help herself to the replicator, though, so all hope of getting her to relax was not apparently lost. T'Less went up after her guest had selected something, and puzzled for a moment what to choose herself before selecting a hearty vegetable soup, fragrant with spices from home.

"The torpedo launchers were certainly a welcome sight, though the image of a dock foreman looking at Thea and declaring her firepower lacking is something of which only a Klingon could be capable. Nonetheless, the upgrade is interesting. Tripling our forward megatonnage can only end well, surely." She blew delicately on a spoonful of soup before tasting it, leaving her sarcasm in the air.

"As for the the ship's weapons in general... it's easy to wish they were greater still," she admitted, her gaze fixing on a point unseen beyond the bulkhead for a moment. T'Less glanced at Ida once more before stirring her soup a little. "After our engines, I am your first line of defence. And all too often it isn't enough."

Her voice had hardened towards the end, mostly unbidden. She held a great deal of bitterness - of guilt - over the in-her-mind preventable deaths of so many of their crew. "I failed to protect all but a handful of our pilots in the Azure Nebula during the battle with Martok's flagship, for instance. True; we were but one damaged Vector, and we did technically emerge the victor..." she trailed off, disinterested in running over old justifications that had long since turned to ash on her tongue.

"There's also the fact that the greater proportion of the things we've had to shoot at lately have been Federation vessels. I can defend this ship at the cost of other lives in Starfleet. It's one thing to engage in a wargame for training's sake, but live-fire is something else."

Feeling very small, she added, "I wish I didn't have to."

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #4 – May 11, 2020, 11:47:18 AM

[ Lieutenant ThanIda zh'Wann | Senior Officer Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Top Hat 
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Pleased to take the conversation away from the Savi and this damnable alliance with them, Ida had replicated raw tuber root, sliced into a salad and mixed small vithi bulbs. The lax shoreleave had made her eat less frequently but she was still optimising her training, focusing on protein sources. She even had shaysha spread on her side of hari, the traditional Andorian bread, but she did reward her palate with yellow Andorian ale, which had a more nutty flavour than the ordinary cerulean kind.

Her mind wasn't on her food, however, instead listening to T'Less as she talked about the upgrades to the tactical systems. She chuckled at her friends sarcastic remark, appreciating how she was the kind of Vulcan that allowed herself and her company such expressions. Andorians and Vulcans had old grudges, but Ida had no biased opinions stemming from old conflicts. On the contrary, she found herself getting along quite well with them, most of the time, but with T'Less in particular.

Soon, however, the reality of their situation came to dampen the brief humour, as her friend spoke of being the first line of the crew's defence. She spoke of losses in the Azure Nebula, events which Ida hadn't been present for, and the regret of not being able to protect the Lone Wolves to the extent she wanted. Clearly, however, the toll of the past five months firing against Federation starships raised its ugly head, and it was something Ida had thought of privately, wondering how those in Tactical handled it.

"Of course," she said quietly, chewing slowly as she raised her eyes. She put her eating utensils down, frowning in thought. "Our minds... they don't drift through inertia. We blame ourselves, react and respond. I have sensed this cost of duty myself, but not in the scope intrinsic to your tasks. That you do feel, I believe, it is a good thing, because otherwise you would have lost yourself at some point during our persecution. You are here, now, feeling the toll, and that means you have not come to give the immensity of your actions an insouciant shrug."

She sipped her ale, the high synthehol content from the replicator undermined by the rich flavours. She thought of duty, and how she would handle the toll it must take on an officer in T'Less' position. All she could say was how grateful she was that the nature of her assignments oft kept her from orders that would cost so many innocent lives.

"I suspect there are dark paths found towards complete indifference," she added quietly, wishing she could offer more comfort than the trite platitudes they were forced to live by, telling themselves that protecting the truth was for the greater good.

"At least the risks of flying those warp fighters are inherent to their duties, just like our own have their detriments. With the advancement of shielding in those small crafts since the Dominion War, they now have their proper tactical place in the field, correct? Was it truly your duty to defend them?" She said in hopes her words might make what she already knew more tangible, for she had no doubt T'Less knew all that she said already. "Your task back then was to defend Thea - or that part of her - just like they were. Moreover... I do believe waging battle against Martok himself wouldn't have happened without losses. I rather regret you had to fight that Negh'var flagship at all."

Which, of course, made her think of Hi'Jak. The lowly Bekk who had called for Martok's son to destroy the Coreless Moon.

"The guilt squarely lies on the head of a traitor, who Captain Ives have removed from the ship." Ida resumed eating, with little joy in it. "An Imperial Intelligence operative that Ives found aboard, and who repaid the kindness of a second chance by betraying my away team, and failed to carry out his orders. You would never have had to fight that Klingon ship if it hadn't been for that moronic spy's hubris. He had Martok's son ending up dead, and it's a small miracle that the High Chancellor is even in an alliance with us now if you ask me."

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #5 – May 14, 2020, 04:35:02 PM

[ Lt T'Less | Senior Officers' Quarters | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy | Stranger Here Myself ] attn: @Auctor Lucan 

T'Less' soup was slowly stirred and spooned into her mouth as Ida spoke. The movement was methodical and precise, each revolution a perfect imitation of its predecessor, a dark streak of various powdered spices forming a neat ring in the translucent liquid. She barely tasted it as she sipped it from the spoon, instead listening intently to the Andorian's words even if her own gaze was focused on her bowl.

It was interesting, in a philosophical sense, that she could agree with the words being said and still reject them. It had been an oft-explored topic between her and fellow Vulcans, used on both sides as 'evidence' to support their diverging positions. They, that logical deductions like this were useful and aided in the control and management of one's emotions (particularly the negative). She, that because there were multiple conclusions able to be drawn through similarly-rigorous logical routes meant that picking the one comforting outcome was moral laziness and thus could safely be discarded. Which would then turn the debate towards moral philosophy, and on through the back-and-forth they'd go. Riveting conversation, all would agree.

"That rather glosses over the fact that those fighters operate better en masse with proper capital support, rather than in a like-for-like engagement when the capital support in question is objectively outclassed," she said, quietly. "The equipment is also mostly replaceable. But the attrition to our personnel is unacceptable; if we are to have a hope of surviving against the weight of at least one entire fleet we need to preserve every life we can. I had the guns available and the capacitor charge to shoot down more torpedoes, to blind more targeting sensors. I just wasn't fast enough."

Ida brought up the reason for Martok's involvement at all, and it was (minutely) written on T'Less' face just what she thought of Hi'Jak. They hadn't had a great deal to do with one another during their time aboard the ship, given their differing disciplines, but if nothing else his betrayal had been so irritatingly short-sighted. For the Empire, even the most positive outcomes of his actions at the Coreless Moon resulted in parasitic victory. The destruction of the Theurgy would be the end of the campaign.

"... and it's a small miracle that the High Chancellor is even in an alliance with us now if you ask me."

"Even so, Martok would have had no reason to enter into communication range of us without the constructed provocation provided by the operative. We would have taken fewer losses in the nebula, right up until we had to combat the Borg. KDF support there was critical until the arrival of the Versant, and they wouldn't have been searching for us in the area unless they had their quest for vengeance. But any speculation is moot, because what happened happened. If we could pick and choose the hands we are dealt, I doubt we'd have to discuss this at all..."

She ignored that her own argument could be used against her. The point stood regardless, in her opinion.

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #6 – May 19, 2020, 01:52:46 PM

[ Lieutenant ThanIda zh'Wann | Senior Officer Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Top Hat 
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T'Less was right, of course, in how the past was fixed and altering it would have led to other losses, or even defeats. The Klingons would have remained where they were, unless...

"Had the operative followed orders and contacted Martok, instead of his son," she said with a shrug, having finished chewing a bite, "Ives might have rallied Martok's aide nonetheless. Not just against the Borg in the Azure Nebula, but this whole situation with the Infested. You are correct, however. There is no way of knowing what might have happened instead."

Odd, that saying T'Less had used. Was it something she'd picked up recently? Cards? Humans tend to gravitate towards such games...

It was a minute detail, but it was the details Ida had learned to hear. An occupational hazard, she supposed, having been in interrogation rooms for too long. Instead of delving on the death of the Lone Wolves, and how the Vulcan would not dismiss her own guilt in the situation, Ida wondered if it might be better to shift the conversation towards something else. She had little hope in being able to distract T'Less entirely from the past, of course, but this was something she hadn't known about her friend.

"To 'choose the hands we're dealt'," she mused with a smile, tasting the expression on her tongue along with the food. "I don't mean to pry, but have you taken up Earth games here at Aldea?"

She let T'Less answer, before she supplemented with her own experiences. "I tended to enjoy it in the Academy, but I fear my patience for it was thin. I preferred the sparring rings, personally. When loosing, the lessons tended to remind themselves for days afterwards, keeping me from repeating them. Call me uncivilised, but I merely continued on the same path the Andorian Guard had put me on, before I joined the Academy. After all, one can only keep skills with practise, and I had an adequate amount of experience in Kharakom and Hleshvalath that I wished to maintain."

Ida found herself enjoying the company of T'Less, and regretted how they hadn't been able to meet earlier during the stay at Aldea.

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #7 – May 23, 2020, 10:07:58 PM

[ Lt T'Less | Senior Officers' Quarters | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy | Stranger Here Myself ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

"... have you taken up Earth games here at Aldea?"

Well, that was a complicated question. She immediately recalled her poker game with some of the other Vulcans aboard just last week, but it was a game with which they were all familiar. It was a source of some cultural embarassment given Vulcans' obvious and logical disdain for gambling, but its other draws included its simple mathematical principle and layers of social cues. Since first contact between Humans and Vulcans had introduced the game to them, the latter had played it among themselves ever since.

Her recent interaction had been a mixed success. Engaging with traditionalists always was. To her chagrin, she hadn't even won the first hand.

"No, I haven't," she answered honestly. It was the technical truth. "Merely a figure of speech," she added, spooning some more soup.

Ida went on to describe her preference for more physical pursuits, which T'Less could well appreciate. If nothing else, the line of her work would indicate a need to be more prepared in that regard than most others even before one considered her background in the Guard. Besides any of that, there were hobbyists who enjoyed martial arts as much as those who required them in a professional capacity. T'Less nodded. "I could hardly call you uncivilised when I still occasionally practise suus mahna, even if I use its forms more as a stretching exercise than a pugilistic one," she said, taking a moment to look over the other woman's taut figure. The Deputy ran herself harder than she did any of her subordinates; they all knew better than to complain when she issued their training regimes. 'Careful,' the scuttlebutt went, 'or she'll give you her routine.'

"I suppose you've had plenty of opportunity to maintain your skills with the kharakom and the-" she stumbled a little on the alien word, "hlesh-v'leth, in the last few months. I don't necessarily just mean the various boarding actions and away missions, either. We've spent enough time in transit that anyone might find time for self-improvement no matter how busy they are."

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #8 – May 29, 2020, 11:45:14 AM

[ Lieutenant ThanIda zh'Wann | Senior Officer Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Top Hat 
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Nodding, Ida could definitely agree with that observation. T'Less was right, she'd had plenty and varied opportunity for practise, and for herself, maintaining a physical training regime was not a matter of a short-time improvement made, or a directed effort to address am immediate need. Staying healthy and strong wasn't even something she did because of her duties, or her obligations as an officer. It was, quite simply, as natural for her as breathing and brushing her teeth.

"Rare indeed are the days in which I fail to exert myself physically. When I started out in the Andorian Guard, of course," Ida confessed with a chuckle, "it was an uphill struggle - the artist child finding her feet and her fists. It was a matter of building momentum, and eventually, it became something you would depend upon. The routine, gruelling as it was, evolving to a subconcious need, and even a satisfaction found in completion."

Curious, she took another bite of her food, her blue eyes rising to her friend. "Was it the same for you, when you were younger, or were you taught a more pragmatic attitude towards maintaining a physical training regimen? A more clinical logic in how it is better to be healthy than not?" Perhaps she thought she had Vulcan attitudes pinned down, suggesting such a sentiment on their behalf, but she was rather wondering about T'Less own experience... for she had the distinct impression that she was far more overt with her emotions and passions than other Vulcans. Their shared experience, back then, was no more an indicator than her general mannerism, and it was something Ida was fond of - the exchange with her more rich than she'd expect when she had first laid eyes on her.

It seemed so long ago, before they fled Earth, seeing her aboard Thea for the first time, in a lounge shared by Line Officers. Was it the Spearhead? I forget.

"Speaking of self-improvement," she said and finished her last bulb, "I would greatly enjoy a lesson in Suus Mahna, should you find the time for it. I confess I might come to utilise such techniques in a more aggressive manner, however, depending on what this mission has in store next."

More or less a guarantee, she thought, with mixed feelings, but after venting her frustrations earlier, she felt it less likely that she might use the Vulcan martial arts against one of the Savi delegates aboard. She would likely never be at ease around them, not giving them the benefit of the doubt for a moment, but before talking with T'Less...

...she hadn't been sure what she would have done.

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #9 – June 02, 2020, 09:36:36 PM

[ Lt T'Less | Senior Officers' Quarters | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy | Stranger Here Myself ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

The Vulcan could well imagine the struggle Ida might have faced in the early days of her training - she herself knew well what it was like to force oneself into a different mould for the sake of one's surrounding peers. And like her Andorian friend's training regime, her own facade took constant maintenance. She did however privately confess that she hadn't thought of it this way until now. Their differences were apparently less than she had assumed. Most meetings prior to the Ishtar fiasco had been incidental, but she was glad that their friendship had solidified after that event. T'Less wasn't especially social, so having at least one stalwart friend was welcome.

"Was it the same for you, when you were younger, or were you taught a more pragmatic attitude towards maintaining a physical training regimen? A more clinical logic in how it is better to be healthy than not?"

T'Less shifted a little in her seat. "Actually most of my exercise in my early years was despite my parents' warnings. I spent many days free-climbing the cliffs near my home, content to ignore the inherent danger. I only took up a more conventional - and logical - routine once I enlisted in Starfleet." All part of her masquerade, to avoid trouble with the traditionalists she met from wider Vulcan society.

She listened as Ida requested suus mahna lessons, stirring her soup a little to blend the flavours and search for any remaining vegetables. T'Less had to look back up at her friend, though, a hint of a smirk touching the corner or her mouth. "You speak as if the possibility of your using the techniques would dissuade me from teaching you," she commented. "It would be a poor martial art that precluded its own use."

She ate the soup that had been cooling on her spoon before agreeing more explicitly. "We can compare our gym schedules; I am neither qualified nor expert enough to teach you everything about the art, but I can surely impart the basic techniques and philosophies." From there, it should be easy for Ida to pick and choose the complimentary parts of suus mahna that would fit and improve her existing training.

"I hope you agree to treat me gently," her eye flashed with a self-effacing joke, "It has been some time since I sparred with a partner."

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #10 – June 09, 2020, 11:00:37 AM

[ Lieutenant ThanIda zh'Wann | Senior Officer Quarters | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Top Hat 
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In defiance of their differing hours and professions aboard, the manner in which their separate duties precluded that they met too often, Ida felt elated about T'Less wanting to share some of her training hours with her. More often than not, Ida found herself instructing present crewmembers in hand-to-hand combat, and even though she earned the exercise out of that, she looked forward to learning something new.

Then again, Ida felt that any new techniques she'd pick up would be secondary to actually sharing more time with a friend, since while she'd begun to connect with people after her abduction, it was usually in a more shallow fashion, distractions from her hurt, or in some cases self-therapeutic encounters. She had been rebuilding her confidence, which had been in tatters, through her artwork and re-learning to trust people enough to get close. She had been reasserting herself, like she'd done only once with T'Less, but this Vulcan before her offered far more than mere diversion. T'Less had genuinely cared, selflessly, when she told her about her experiences on the Versant. She had said she'd burn the arboretum for her, if one of her assailants would have had his name engraved on a plate - never to be listed among the fallen on the Memorial Terrace.

"I am certain you can hold your own," Ida heard herself say with an easy smile, and by Lor'Vela, she refused to become emotional over something so simple as finding more time with this Vulcan that cared for her beyond physical attraction, something that seemed to predominantly draw attention to her from the people she met. She cleared her throat and put down her cutlery, glancing towards the tabletop whilst she keeping her voice from failing. She willed her antennae to stop writhing too. "Though of course I will be mindful. I wouldn't dream of hurting you."

At that moment she envied how Vulcans would bottle themselves up so easily - present company less so, perhaps - and she resolutely grasped for something else to speak of. Being Andorian, of course she would most easily find something to be acerbic about. She schooled herself however, from launching into a tirade about it, not wishing to ruin the evening.

"Speaking of hurt, did you hear about the two crewmembers that were lost for an hour during a transport between Vectors? Apparently, there was a flaw in the anyonic emission protocol, and they were phased out of our reality, and into some kind of... parallel universe in which the Niga virus hadn't been stopped by the USS Relativity," she said, a frown creasing the skin between her white eyebrows. "When they were finally brought back, they got the antidote immediately, and the transporters won't suffer the same kind of malfunction again, but still... Shelat, one would have thought that with you destroying that planet, we would have been able to put all that behind us."

She paused, thinking about the report. Ida hadn't been directly involved in the following investigation, but she was aware of the findings immediately afterwards. "The incident also revealed how one of the Doctors that work in both sickbay and the hydrophonics bay actually created the Niga flora," she continued, but before any misplaced guilt would come of it, she added, "Inadvertently, and without knowledge that others at her research station continued the experiment after she followed protocol and cancelled it. I've seen the evidence myself, and while the science of it is beyond me, the logs that Admiral Anderson pulled showed how she's innocent. Somehow, the Infested used her creation and their ability to make temporal incursions to set everything in motion. A random mistake on the Doctor's behalf, in pairing samples that shouldn't have anything to do with each other, and yet because of our enemy, that creation caused all we endured."

Ida shook her head slowly, her frown remaining. "I thought I might have felt... more about it, some kind of instinctual ire towards scientists in general - because of the abduction - but I find myself feeling both... benumbed by it all, and admittedly, I also find myself fearing that this... unsettling connection that the Theurgy's crew has to all this development..." Her frown deepened. "That somehow, we're equally causing the damage around us as much as we try to stop it from happening."

She looked up, wondering if she was alone in such thoughts. "Do you get that feeling too?"

Re: Day 26 [1830 hrs.] Long Overdue

Reply #11 – June 19, 2020, 06:21:02 PM

[ Lt T'Less | Senior Officers' Quarters | Deck 08 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy | Stranger Here Myself ] attn: @Auctor Lucan

"I am certain you can hold your own," Ida smiled. T'Less quirked an eyebrow and gave an almost-Human bob of the head, enjoying the back-and-forth. It was a privilege for her to be able to simply express around Ida, given how many people expected a Vulcan to act just-so - it was simply the path of least resistance to clamp down on external display, so to be able to relax was a luxury. She was grateful to have a firm friend in whose company she could show herself.

She listened without immediate comment at the Andorian's mention of the transporter incident. What she didn't know for certain already, the ship's scuttlebutt had helped to fill in. "I suppose it was inevitable that a jury-rigged addition to a delicate system like a transporter would fail eventually, however small the chance. I confess to being grateful that it wasn't me."

T'Less hadn't suffered the depredations of the Niga virus on the ship the first time round, but that was a blessing and a curse. Many of those infected suffered an amnesia as a side-effect of their antidote, and so would be spared the explicit knowledge of the things they'd done... she herself well-remembered plenty of what she'd witnessed.

"Regarding the doctor... It would be easy to see it as a reinforcement of the naive scientist who is only interested in progress at the expense of all else, but the involvement of the parasites mean that the bounds of plausibility are stretched compared to what we'd think of as normal anyway."

"I thought I might have felt... more about it, some kind of instinctual ire towards scientists in general - because of the abduction - but I find myself feeling both... benumbed by it all, and admittedly, I also find myself fearing that this... unsettling connection that the Theurgy's crew has to all this development... Do you get that feeling, too?"

The Vulcan placed her spoon in her now-empty bowl with a quiet click, the warmth of the spices lingering on her tongue. She drew a breath as if to sigh, but held it instead for a second before speaking. "We have all been through so much - whether or not we're among the cohort of the crew that survived the escape from Sol. Desensitisation is to be expected... but I recommend requesting a referral to Counselling if you find that aspect of chronic stress troubling to the point of distraction."

Now she did sigh. "I do echo your sentiment otherwise, however. There are so many variables to our situation, and our enemy holds almost all of the information advantage if Nicander's testimony about grand temporal cycles holds up. While we do spoil the parasites' plans with our resistance, we also do part of their propaganda effort for them, which makes it easier to enact other aspects of their plan.

"We don't have a choice. We must go on, or everyone - everything - is forfeit."

~FIN