Day 02 [1600 hrs] Be Not Afraid

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Day 02 [1600 hrs] Be Not Afraid

January 14, 2018, 11:13:41 PM

[ Suq Reylin Efreya-Xan | Main Sickbay | PCU | Deck 11 ] Attn: @Triage
Suq was sitting, well, somewhere. It was sickbay, he knew the sounds of sickbay, but it was like his vision wasn't working. His eyes saw, they sent an image to his brain, but his brain just said 'nope, not today, sorry'. He didn't even know brains could refuse duty like that. He wasn't sure how he got from engineering to here, or why he was here, or who else was in the room with him. He was a ghost outside of his own body, staring at a point in the distance, and at the same time also not existing and thus unable to stare.

In reality, the Efrosian man was sitting in the primary care unit. His burns had been treated, but his unusual behavior required some monitoring. He was sitting on a bio-bed, aided there by a nurse some time ago. There he was watched until he started responding to stimuli again. He had a quick poke a few minutes ago, and the medicine was starting to bring him back into his mind—but slowly. Too fast and he'd panic, more than likely.

He looked paler than he should be, and his uniform was burnt up from the leaked plasma conduit earlier. He was criss-crossed on the bed, eyes focused on nothing at all, and his hair all over the place and stuck to his face from sweat. For the time being, he was alone in his corner of the room, slowly regaining his senses and connecting back to his body.

Re: Day 02 [1600 hrs] Be Not Afraid

Reply #1 – January 17, 2018, 12:50:30 AM

Heather had finished up everything that was necessary with E.V.E., and was now just, for lack of a better word, putzing around in the Sickbay, trying to shake her still mounting headache. She'd already taken what treatments were available and viable to her, but for some reason, the symptoms were still mounting instead of abating. Maybe she just took longer than the gods to recover. It wasn't like she had a long list of experiences in illness and pain to compare notes on. But this was the risk she took when she joined Starfleet. Her body was far too fragile, and it couldn't handle rigours very well.

She noticed then that there was an Efrosian sitting on a bed nearby. She winced slightly at the sight of his uniform, guessing what might have landed him here. But something seemed off about him even now. Was he still recovering? She became curious, and her multi-hued lights began to dance with eagerness and curiosity as she shyly approached him, a small fading trail of wispy light flakes trailing behind her. “Hullo.” she said simply and politely, not certain if he'd appreciate her intrusion. But she was technically also a doctor if it came down to it, and Efrosian physiology interested her. This was an opportunity to learn new things, headache or not.

Re: Day 02 [1600 hrs] Be Not Afraid

Reply #2 – January 17, 2018, 01:22:30 PM

[ Suq Reylin Efreya-Xan | Main Sickbay | PCU | Deck 11 ] Attn: @Triage

He was slow to look up, his head felt like it had been encased in concrete. He wasn't even sure why he was looking up, he hadn't heard anything--

But he saw Heather, and the first sound he made her was a quiet, sharp inhale. She was...beautiful. He didn't have any words, either because she was too divine or because he hadn't fully come back into hs body yet.

His first thought was to reach out and touch, to confirm she really existed. He lifted his hand to try, but brought it close to his chest before he even got close. He remembered the songs and legends his auntie told him, a man's touch could kill her.

He sat where he was, staring up at her with mouth left slightly open, hand held to his chest. A spirit-- here. And one of the most heavenly types of spirits too. Surely, this couldn't be real... When he spoke, his voice was small, scattered, and not in Standard. He asked her in Efrosian, assuming that as a spirit, she could speak it too. The UT could catch and translate the words,
"...am I dead?"

Re: Day 02 [1600 hrs] Be Not Afraid

Reply #3 – January 17, 2018, 10:10:19 PM

That was not Federation Standard, was Heather's casual thought, before recalling a bit about Efrosian linguistics and mostly how it was difficult to reciprocate in kind mostly due to the requirements to successfully speak. Her highly adaptive nature would enable her to quickly grasp the language, but she realized trying to speak it would likely have her shredding her vocal chords beyond repair. And besides, she wasn't an expert linguist, despite her quick learning ability. She would just have to respond with what she had. She more or less understood the question even without the translator.

Rising to stand on her tip toes, her feet bare, she slowly shook her head, smiling assuringly at him. A quick glance at his charts told her the problem: He had been severely burned, treated, and was now under observation. It would explain his slow movements. She thought Efrosians were fast and had excellent reflexes. She did wonder at his sharp intake of breath when he saw her, then she remembered that she had only recently outed her true nature to the crew, and while they had been made aware of her and her frailty, the naturally occuring aurora aspect still took most by surprise. The way he looked at her made her a little taken aback, and shy.

She had seen how he was beginning to reach a hand out to touch her, but stopped. She supposed he knew about her frailty and wasn't sure he could balance out the amount of force she could withstand. Now that she had responded to his query, she broke the ethereal silence, asking him, “I'm terribly sorry for intruding on your recovery,” her British accent coming across clearly, trusting in the Universal Translator to convert her words in case he really didn't speak a word of Federation Standard.“I just thought I'd ask how you were doing. Do you need anything?”

Re: Day 02 [1600 hrs] Be Not Afraid

Reply #4 – January 18, 2018, 12:08:43 AM

[ Suq Reylin Efreya-Xan | Main Sickbay | PCU | Deck 11 ] Attn: @Triage

Good lord, she was beautiful. If he went blind watching her lights, well, that'd be okay. She was a spirit, after all. If his last image was a spirit, in the flesh, coming to visit him, he would be considered blessed for the rest of his days, and that's being modest.

But she didn't respond in Efrosian. He was staring at her with the wonder befitting of a religious experience, but for some reason, she didn't speak his language. This was a lot like a human seeing an angel, only for the angel to speak Mandarin Chinese and not Standard. Sure, she was kind and her voice still heavenly, but...that was a shock. Disappointing, maybe, so he tried again in Federation standard.

"N-no, I'm healed..." He gestured to his legs, the uniform was ruined but his skin looked good as new. With the exception of missing leg hair, of course. "A-am I dead, though, is that why...why you're here? You're a spirit, right? Come to tell me whether I've earned, you know, endless skies or the underworld? or are the reincarnists right, do I get born all over again as a baby when I die?" He started to ramble. His voice felt funny, like he was just learning to use it all over again. It wavered a lot. Fear, maybe, or divine reverence.
"It's just...you're..." He gestured, "You're a spirit. We have....songs about you, and shit. Legends. So I have to be dead."

Re: Day 02 [1600 hrs] Be Not Afraid

Reply #5 – January 20, 2018, 10:05:28 PM

Heather was beginning to realize a few things with regard to the Efrosian. Somehow she resembled a mythical or divine being of religious or cultural origins to him. Which was an odd contradiction to her since he was akin to a god, what with his far superior physical attributes alone. And she appeared to have disappointed him somehow by her preferred choice of language, if her guess on his micro-expression was correct. This made her crease her brow with disappointment in herself for even causing the briefest of distress.

What he had to say greatly intrigued the little Radiant, as she was regarded as a spirit, and they had songs about her or people like her?!? Wait a moment...“You have collections of our excrement?!?” She wasn't sure whether to be horrified or amused or sick. And what was that about legends? Did her people make contact with Efrosians before? It was possible...but she shook her head slowly again, careful not to aggravate her headache, and she unintentionally said in Efrosian, <No, not dead,> then she continued in Federation Standard, “you're still with us, in the endless skies...G-UH! I mean you're with the living! Sorry! Slip of the tongue! Sorry sorry!”

She felt a right fool as she kept talking, and she wrung her hands fretfully as she tried to think how to correct her blunders, fearing she might have ruined this god's own beliefs and system, “I'm terribly sorry, I mean, I'm really not a spirit. I'm just a Radiant from Earth. Uhm, I mean, my people landed on Earth and lived there...I don't know where I'm from originally. Does that make sense? I'm talking too much...I should shut up now...” she glanced at the exit and considered skipping away, head straight for Carrigan's quarters, and bury herself in the bed.

Re: Day 02 [1600 hrs] Be Not Afraid

Reply #6 – January 20, 2018, 10:24:50 PM

[ Suq Reylin Efreya-Xan | Main Sickbay | PCU | Deck 11 ] Attn: @Triage

Collections of excrement—what? What...? Oh, wait, he had said 'shit'. He felt so much embarrassment that he was sure his face would turn more orange than it was.
“N-no, no shit, uh, expressions—sorry, I uh--” But she cut her off, in Efrosian. Spirits, he was just so confused right now. His head hurt.
“Okay, okay, so—reality check, I'm alive, you're a Radiant, from Earth...but we have legends about you. You match them exactly. I mean...” He rolled his wrist, as if trying to drum up his memories about the songs his auntie sang him. It's been forever, and generally he never had use for all that music.
<”Of star-flesh, spirit of spirits, untouchable, untouchable or she may die...”> He sang, uncertainly. The more he tried to find the rest of the song, the more unsure he became, the more he forgot. It was a nice song, sung with a gentle tone, his second voice made to stay close to the note of the first.

<”You know...? “May hands meet your flesh, show me, Alta, bring us to your world, where burden of living is no more...> It-it's something like that. The.. The Atally song? I don't know the name of it. Do you know who Atally is? Or he, I guess. What I'm saying is—you're in our culture, as a spirit of stars. So...you're holy, right? Or...” Just another alien? He hoped not. The idea that an actual angel was here on this ship, it comforted him. He was protected so long as he was in her favor. However, the more and more he went over the idea, the more his skepticism kicked in. She was just an alien. He was just as vulnerable as ever, just as slated to die...

"L-look, I guess it doesn't matter. I just, well, I wasn't in my right mind, just a few moments ago, and I'm just now coming back down. You looked like a Spirit. Maybe your people visited ours a while before the Vulcans, wouldn't be the first alien visit we've had, but...I guess it was just wishful thinking." He sighed, feeling deflated and much like he had just made a fool of himself, singing random women's work-songs at a total stranger, trying to involve her in some sort of ancient aliens conspiracy. Even if she was beautiful in a way he could not describe, even if she looked just like the spirit that was supposed to have visited the city of Nyal'a Tell, centuries before the Klingons or Vulcans. Maybe, just maybe...

Re: Day 02 [1600 hrs] Be Not Afraid

Reply #7 – January 21, 2018, 04:01:49 AM

Is he part Radiant? Heather wondered when the Efrosian turned a little orange in colour. Or perhaps not, but his inner glow seemed stronger than a human's, which made her wonder about relativity. She nodded her head, letting him continue his train of thought, when he abruptly broke into a lovely Disney Musical. Oh absolutely, why not? Three hundred years later, and it's still producing films. What intrigued her was she was quickly grasping what he was saying, without help from the Translator. She rose to stand on the very tips of her toes as he continued, not that it added that much height to her minuscule frame. But it was a sign of her growing interest at the song.

If she understood him correctly, then members of her race had definitely visited before, and unintentionally became part of myth and legend in Efrosian lore. He seemed to regard her like an angel, a bringer towards the equivalent of heaven. She wanted to affirm that she was just an alien, no more than him, far less than him in fact. But would she be violating the prime directive if she diffused the myth before him? Or would it be worse to pretend to be what he thought she was? It made her head want to explode. She wished Carrigan was here. He always knew what to do. He would know how best to break the news to the man, whose name she still wasn't sure of, and not leave him utterly shattered of his beliefs.

She glanced at his records on the monitor and saw his name. Well that took care of one thing. But how to handle this? Oh, now she wished she hadn't let her curiosity get the better of her. Why hadn't they mentioned these spirits in the records about Efrosians? Probably because that was in their religious aspect, not their biological... thought Heather bitterly. She stepped up to him slowly, still walking on the tips of her toes, almost gliding, and she said his name in as close to the Efrosian way of speaking as possible, without hurting her vocal chords, “Suq Reylin Efreya-Xan,” she was right in front of him, and gently clasped his cheek with her thumb and his jawline she traced with her fingers, “don't lose heart. Just...be true to yourself, and never lose your faith.”

She allowed her light to shine brighter, the colours enriched and swirled eagerly over her skin, and the light began to pierce right through her uniform. She'd chosen to wear a skirt, so she showed far more skin right up to her knees, only making her brightness more pronounced. “But don't mind me if I talk like this...uhm...it's easier?” Her face contorted as she felt like a right fool trying to talk like some Tolkien elf maiden, which she absolutely was not. She stepped back, smiled sweetly at Suq, and bade farewell, saying, “I should go. You're not dead, and you're going to be all right. You'll be absolutely marvelous, really. Uhm...bye!” She pivoted and nearly stumbled over her own feet and quickly bent the lights around her to turn invisible, regretting it a moment later because the poor man now probably thought she really was a spirit being, considering it would look like she disappeared into thin air to him.

Oh marvelous! I know how to fuddle things up, don't I? The girl thought miserably. The door hissed open and she flopped out, picked herself up, and leaned against the bulkhead, staring at the ceiling. She really hoped Carrigan was having a better day than she was.

Re: Day 02 [1600 hrs] Be Not Afraid

Reply #8 – January 21, 2018, 04:46:06 AM

[ Suq Reylin Efreya-Xan | Main Sickbay | PCU | Deck 11 ] Attn: @Triage

She liked the song, he noticed. She...really liked it! He'd never been very good at singing, but he was so, so very flattered. He brought his hands to his cheeks to rub the blush away, if he could. And spirits above—she spoke his name! He hadn't given his full name to her, and she spoke it, correctly even! He looked up at her, eyes filled with wonder and his heart beating fast. To top it all off...she blessed him. With her words, her kindness, and most importantly her light, he was blessed. He felt it when the fogginess in his mind cleared, his impending sense of doom vanished. A blessing, all his own! He'd never forget it, for as long as he lived. He wasn't even that religious!

He didn't even have the time to thank her, she just straight up vanished. He slid off the bed in alarm and turned about looking for her, and she wasn't there. Ah, the doors wooshed though, he could hear them and he saw nothing go through them. Spirits...use doors, don't they?

He was left standing, his hands over his chest so his heart didn't burst through. He felt all warm and fluffy inside. What a peculiar, strange spirit she was. He wasn't even sure she was one, but for now, he liked to believe it. He wanted to believe it. After all, as he re-evaluated his mind and feelings, he didn't feel undead anymore. Startled, shaken, but he was alive again. He was not afraid. The Spirit did that.

So he believed.

-Fin