Honed, Hemmed In IV

Posted on 30 Apr 2013 @ 3:36pm by

1,251 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: LTjg Maenad Panne's Office
Timeline: MD6 1930 Hours

ON:

"Liyar, why don't you ever tell me about your life?" she asked.

Liyar's eyebrows knitted together. Maenad knew a great deal about his life. More than anyone else on board. His life? His expression did a small dance of curiosity, shifting minutely before he asked, "What is it you mean?"

"You know," she tried, "You tell me about your work, but you never tell me about the things that happen to you." Maenad shrugged. "Nevermind."

The lightbulb wasn't going off. "I want to understand," he said, shaking his head. "I do not deliberately conceal these things from you," Liyar said. "It simply does not seem relevant." He made a small frown, as if thinking of something to say. Something he hadn't already told her. Almost hesitantly, he said, "My brother is transferring from the Venture. He arrived with Naskisem. His name was on the transfer dossier. He will be staying for the duration of the Rojar mission. I have not seen him yet."

"Oh?" Maenad perked up. "That's exciting," she said. "You must be glad to see him. Will you introduce us?"

"My brother and I have not spoken for many years," Liyar said. "Only recently. He was caught in an explosion one month ago. I spoke with him then, he did not seem receptive. I can introduce you, but you may find him rather," he shifted his gaze to the side in a silent shrug, "abrupt."

"I don't care," she insisted. "You're abrupt, too," Maenad told him. It wasn't a joke, either. She liked Liyar because of how unreserved he was with his tongue. "He was in an explosion?" Her tone sharpened. It seemed like explosions were part of Liyar's family history.

"Yes," Liyar replied. "Neo was part of the V'Ket, Vulcan's ground force unit. He was sent to Kari'shol, a V'tosh ka'tur settlement, for his ties to Rhiell. The team which went there was caught in a bomb when they tried to extract hostages," he delivered stoically.

"Was he hurt?" she asked, a tone of concern in her voice.

"Yes," Liyar said. His solemn expression and the fact that the comment was directed at the wall behind Maenad were his only indicators of worry. "He was in Shi'kahr Medical Center for six weeks. Four point two he spent in stasis with burns covering thirty percent of his body mass. He is recovered now."

Maenad remembered how much the burn on her hand had hurt. A third of her body, though - she would probably die. "Well," she said, "I'm glad he's okay."

"As am I, despite his belief otherwise," Liyar said more to himself. He frowned minutely and looked up to meet her eyes again.

"What do you mean by that?" Maenad softly touched his arm.

"We do not, get along, you would say. He believes that I do not concern myself with him, since he feels he is not important enough. He believes our family is similarly predisposed. He does not speak to them much." As much as a Vulcan could avoid their clan. "My family dynamics are somewhat... complicated. What of yourself? Do you possess any siblings?"

Maenad listened to him intently. This was all new to her; she found Liyar's personal life very interesting. Compared to hers, well, she had nothing to tell. Maenad was boring. "I don't," she said. "I am an only child."

Their years-long apathy not withstanding, Liyar couldn't imagine being without his brother. Family was everything to Vulcans, and having one as small as Maenad's was completely alien to him. In a way, it fascinated him. It sounded more free, somehow. "To be an only child," even though Vulcans often only had one or two children at most, the word was still foreign to him. Bonds went as deep between them as they did between brothers. "Is that a good thing to Terrans?" he asked curiously.

Maenad took a long few seconds to think about that. There were days, lots of them in fact, that she had wished she'd had a sister, or a brother. She had never had a real best friend, at least not in adulthood, when it probably mattered most. For years of her life she'd had no one to confide in. Having a sibling, part of her had always thought, would have given her someone to talk to. "Probably not," she answered finally. "It depends on the person, I suppose," she mumbled. Her eyes were closed as she leaned into the corner of the couch, but she was far from sleeping.

"I suppose that it does," Liyar said knowingly, watching her drift away. He could tell that she was still awake, but how long was up for debate. "My brother and I have never been close, but I appreciate his presence in k'war'ma'khon nonetheless."

She wished that Liyar and his brother were closer, for their own sake. It was sad to see family split apart like that. She had always been fortunate and had loving parents and so could never appreciate family divides as sharp as Liyar's, but she imagined that it was awful. "You should talk to him, Liyar," she said. "I would like you to."

"I have tried," Liyar said. "I spoke with him after Kari'shol. He did not seem very receptive to my communication," Liyar said. "I have learned not to force the issue. If he wishes to speak with me, then he will, in his own time."

Liyar's family wasn't something she had any business arguing with him about, so she decided to leave it where it was. She pulled her feet up onto the sofa and turned her body from a sitting position into a laying one. Like Liyar wasn't even there, she put her feet on him as she covered herself with the quilt that was draped over the back of the sofa.

"You do not believe my perception is accurate," Liyar said after a long while.

"I don't know," she said, "I don't know him. I just prefer it when people get along, especially family." Maenad explained. "Let's not talk about it anymore." She adjusted her head on the pillow. "What are you doing tonight?"

"I was going to complete a session of physical training later," Liyar answered. "After I will likely meditate and then resume working." His life was a series of boringly unfortunate events. Most of the things he did were done on whims, he rarely had plans for his time other than working. He looked at Maenad over on the couch, and leaned over to straighten up some of the items on her coffee table. "Do you have plans?" he asked.

"No," she said. She looked at him tinkering with the table. "What are you doing?"

Realizing that he was doing anything at all, Liyar's hands stilled over the table. He pulled them to his lap. "It is a habit. I apologize."

"No, it's all right," Maenad suddenly swung her legs off of him and threw the blanket back. She sat upright. "I suppose I'd better get back to my quarters before I fall asleep in here. Walk with me?"

Liyar stood with her and clasped his hands behind him. "Certainly," he agreed, and followed her to her door.

OFF:

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer, SSC
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Liyar
Diplomatic Officer, VDF/SDD
USS Galileo

RSS Feed