Break On Through II

Posted on 30 Apr 2013 @ 3:48pm by Crewman Neo

1,391 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: Mess Hall
Timeline: MD7 0700

ON:

"Vulcans are incapable of worry," Neo said. She was close enough that he didn't need to raise his voice at all.

Maenad closed her eyes again and slowly exhaled. He was definitely Liyar's brother. She pulled herself around by grasping the back of her chair in her hand, looking at him over her shoulder. "I thought Vulcans were incapable of lying," she said before she could stop herself. Liyar worried about her. He was Vulcan.

"That's true," Neo agreed.

Maenad decided to ignore him. She held his eyes for an extra second, her way of telling him to shut up and leave her alone, and turned herself around. She spooned some cereal and ate it, sighing through her nostrils.

"You should try meditation."

Still, she ignored him. Meditation. She smirked to herself at the idea. She drank some juice and ate a slice of banana. This guy didn't know when to shut up.

Neo stood from his table and migrated back, sliding into the chair across from her again. He set the tray to the side and leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the table, resting his head on his fingertips. He looked a lot like Liyar just then, mimicking the same behavior the elder Vulcan often displayed. "You don't approve of meditation. It's good for the katra," he added blankly. "If Terrans have katras."

She finished chewing, eying him without inclining her head. After she swallowed, she said "There is no such thing as the katra."

"No, there definitely is," Neo disagreed.

"If by katra you mean soul, then you're wrong," she said pointedly, raising her head a little.

"I'm okay with that," Neo answered serenely.

Maenad studied him for a moment, narrowing her eyes by fractions of milimetres. She ate another slice of banana. "Humans don't have katras."

"That must be dull. Still, meditation is good for many things," Neo continued conversationally. His own banana gradually disappeared. "Good for the mind and body. It's peaceful. You need it. Very tense, very angry. Do you know many Vulcans?" he asked, curious as to her phrasing. There was no such thing as a katra, then she knew of them, which meant she had to be significantly familiar with his people.

"It is not dull," she corrected him. She was unmistakably offended, and she set down her spoon. "I am not very tense," she told him. "Nor am I very angry," though was visibly frustrated. "I know Vulcans, yes I do. Your brother, actually, is a very good friend of mine."

"Only a little angry." If Neo were human, he might have smirked, but his face remained as placid as always. That changed when she mentioned his brother, and one of his eyebrows rose. Really. "Liyar. Is friends with a Terran?" he said, blinking. "Good friends," he repeated skeptically. With the girl who didn't believe in katras. He found that difficult to believe.

"Does that surprise you?" she snapped. What, because she was human she couldn't be friends with a Vulcan?

"Yeah," Neo replied honestly, giving a single nod upward.

"Why?"

"Liyar isn't well-known for his tolerance," Neo responded. He suspected that this Maenad Panne didn't really know much about Liyar in any way. They had to be acquaintances at best. "How did you meet?"

Maenad straightened her posture. "Tolerance?" she asked. "Do you think I'm an idiot?" she ignored his question.

"You're going to have to clarify."

"You said that he isn't known for tolerance, meaning that you don't know how somebody like him could tolerate a person like me," she pressed her hand against the flat of her chest.

"Yes," Neo said slowly. "I don't. Hence the surprise."

She pointed at him now from beside her bowl. "Tell me what you think is wrong with me. What is there not tolerate?" she growled almost between gritted teeth.

"What makes you think there's anything wrong with you? Liyar is intolerant. His problem."

Maenad laughed, genuinely. "Clever," she smiled. "We met at an award ceremony. We enjoy each other's company," she explained. "I like him and he likes me."

Neo made a face. Liyar enjoying the company of a frail Terran girl. He narrowed his eyes. His unbonded brother. "I'm having trouble processing this. What is it you two do? Braid one another's hair?"

Her smile persisted. "Yes, actually," she said.

Neo stared at her. He sat up, resting his hands on the table, head cocked toward her like a tall gangly bird. His back straightened. "What could you possibly have to talk about?"

"What kind of question is that?" she wanted to know. "What do friends talk about? There's your answer."

"You're enraptured by Romulans and you love free-markets."

Maenad turned her head to one side and looked at the ceiling. "No," she said. "We just get along. And he cares about me."

He was slowly parsing out the information he was being given. He thought back to Naskisem and ate a spoonful of dry cereal. If Liyar were really that off the rails, if he were interested in this Terran, everyone would lose. "Do you care about him?"

With a smile and flush of the cheeks that she hadn't intended, she said, "Of course." She picked up her spoon and looked down at her bowl.

More calculated than earlier, he watched her. Reddened cheeks; she visibly relaxed the more they discussed him. It was obvious she cared a little too much. Moving on from the topic, he bit into his banana, chewed and swallowed. "You're the first Terran that's been able to stand him," Neo said lightly.

Maenad finished chewing her cereal and looked up again. "I don't think he's met very many humans," she mused. "But, that would be typical of most humans toward Vulcans," she shrugged with her eyebrows. "I lived on Vulcan for a year."

"Where did you live?"

"Shi'kahr," she said. "In S'ikael, actually."

"S'iktael. Diplomatic or academic? I was on PSD there for a long time, before the War."

"Academic." Maenad took a sip of her juice. "I am a professor by trade."

"Why were you on Vulcan?" Neo asked.

"For study." She ate a few more banana slices. "Research."

"Research about what?" Research was such a vague, meaningless word. "Is that where you met Liyar?"

"No," she laughed, "I met Liyar here, at the reception for an award ceremony. I was researching the Time of Awakening." Maenad preferred to reveal as little as she had to whenever she discussed her Vulcan research with Vulcans. "Why are you here?"

"Why do you think?" Neo was curious as to her interpretation of events. If she didn't know, or couldn't guess, it wouldn't be his place to tell her.

Maenad narrowed her eyes at him again. "I don't know," she said. "To visit Liyar?"

At her answer, Neo looked at his sleeve, remembering he hadn't bothered putting on his uniform. "I'm a pilot," he told her. "I've been assigned here. I transferred from the Venture. A little of both."

"Oh, that's nice." Liyar had told her that they didn't get along very well, and it sounded like he put more blame on his brother than himself. But to hear Neo say that he was here to visit him as well made her warm up. "Have you seen him yet?"

"No," Neo jerked his chin to the left in negation. "It's not likely we'll talk," he added candidly.

Maenad sighed. She sat back, unamused. "Why not?"

He made more cereal disappear and then started lifting up clumps of rice with his chopsticks. "Not much to say."

"You haven't talked in years," she exclaimed. "I don't have a brother or sister," Maenad told him. "I wish that I had; you should take the initiative and put whatever differences you have aside and go talk to him."

Neo swallowed and reached for his drink. "I see you've heard about me." Apparently Maenad was more friendly with Liyar than he'd anticipated.

OFF:

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

Crewman Neo
Support Craft Pilot, FCON
USS Galileo

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