Common Grounds

Posted on 24 Jan 2014 @ 6:48pm by M'Ressa & Lieutenant Teth Miir
Edited on on 24 Jan 2014 @ 9:49pm

2,002 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Starfleet Headquarters
Timeline: MD 18, 1200

ON:

Having some free time on hand, Miir decided to emerge from his temporary office in search of food and perhaps conversation with someone who wasn't in the midst of a crisis. He decided to head toward the replomat several floors up.

When he stepped onto the turbolift, he came face to face with a female Caitian who immediately piqued his curiosity. It wasn't every day that he encountered other members of his race.

He nodded in her direction and waited for the doors to close.

"Floor six." he instructed the lift controls before glancing back at the woman.

"I've not seen you around. Are you posted here at headquarters?"

M'Ressa's was on her way up for a breath of fresh air after beating her head against a rather frustrating bioengineering problem. Her ears perked as the familiar smell of a fellow caitian wafted into the lift as the doors opened. Her nose twitched a little reading the male's pheremone's as he entered the lift.

"Temporrarry duty." M'Ressa commented. "I'm norrmally stationed on the homeworld but a prroject has me herre for the durration." M'Ressa offered her paw, claws retracted, in a traditional Caitian gesture of meeting. "M'Ressa."

Teth graciously accepted the greeting, not entirely dissimilar from the Federation preferred handshake, but still unique. Being near her and taking in her scent caused a brief but intense rush of Euphoria. It had been so long since he had been around a woman of his own kind. Forgetting about lunch, he was curious to learn more about her.

"Where are you heading now?" he asked, oblivious to how uncustomarily nosy he was being.

"Nowherre in parrticularr Lieutenant. I usually take a brreak arround this time to eat and clearr my head." M'Ressa said. The attention from a stranger was a bit uncomfortable and her tail twitched nervously as the lift rose towards the replomat.

Teth noticed the change in her body language and cringed inwardly at his own awkward behavior.

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be too forward." he said, retreating toward the door "My name is Miir. I don't encounter a lot of other Caitians these days. If you aren't busy, would you care to join me for lunch?"

M'Ressa's posture loosened up when she heard Teth's name. He was the offspring of Ashar M'thii whom M'Ressa had some interactions with during her graduate year of University on Ferasa (Caitia Prime).

M'Ressa's tail calmed down a bit and she smiled at Teth. "I would enjoy the company."

The lift doors opened and Teth waited for M'ressa to leave first.

"So are you stationed here at Starfleet Headquarters?" he asked as they made their way toward the mess hall.

M'Ressa stepped out of the lift and glanced around the replomat. Like a lot of facilities on earth the place was expansive & wide open, but also packed with people. She began scanning for a quiet corner. "Forr now. I've rrequested field assignment but Starrfleet hasn't said eitherr way."

Teth nodded understandingly. "I got orders for the Galileo a few weeks ago. I've sort of been waiting around here since then. It's given me plenty of time to visit my family, but I am feeling quite ready to go."

They both stood in the back of the short line to the replicators.

"So what is your area of expertise, M'Ressa?"

"Biotechnology. I reverse engineer biological processes to better understand how they work."

"That sounds like a fascinating line of work, what made you pursue it?"

It was finally Teth's turn at the replicator and he ordered hasperat with a side of steamed asparagus.

"It can be. It's also a lot of staring at screens watching test data go streaming past. Kind of like the Terran's needle in a haystack expression except the haystack changes from second to second."

M'Ressa followed with an order for an 10oz rare steak and a side of mashed potatoes. She wasn't all that fond of the potatoes but found the starchy side more palatable then most Terran vegetables, and it elicited less stares then a plain plate full of raw or rare meat did.

She found a table for them both and motioned for Teth to join her at the table. Sitting down, she offered a small thanks to the Caitian deity, before starting into her food.

Teth quietly abided by her prayer. Being from a family of scientists, it had been quite some time since he observed someone partake in any form of ritual regarding the deity. He had never been especially spiritual himself, but was endlessly fascinated by the spiritual practices of others. But at this point, he decided to restrain his curiosity and keep the conversation neutral.

"Is your family still on Feresa?" he asked as he bit into the hasperat.

"My eldest sister and parent's are. My other two sisters are in Starfleet. My eldest sister is actually our Den Mother."

M'Ressa took a bite from her steak. "Your parent's still reside on earth?"

"Yes. They live in Germany, they both work for a civilian research collective. My sister lives there as well, she's a police officer." and he said with a sigh "I don't think I've ever met our Den Mother, she's still on the home world and I've not been there often."

M'Ressa nodded. "I had some interactions with your mother when I was completing my undergraduate thesis on Ferasa. I did some work based off research she'd conducted. Turned out to be a dead end but those happen a lot in the field." She smiled at Teth. "Tell me a little about yourself. Doesn't have to be personal. I know you work for Starfleet in Sciences or Medical but what do you do?"

Teth cocked his head in surprise at the mention of his mother. He wondered what she must have told M'Ressa bout him and hoped it was nothing too humiliating.

"I suppose you have me at a disadvantage." he said, "I am a counselor. I've done a lot of work with Starfleet Psychiatric, both here on Earth and on starships. I've been assigned to the Galileo and have just been here for a few weeks, more or less killing time until it's ready to leave spacedock."

He stabbed a spear of asparagus with a fork and bit off the end.

"Aside from that I am afraid I am not the most exciting person in the world. I enjoy gardening and reading. You know, actual reading. I seldom have the time for it, though. "

M'Ressa nodded. "Your mother didn't mention much except that you were in Starfleet." She smiled. "And if it's any consolation, I'm not exactly the most exciting person either. I normally go from work to home, crash for a few hours, and repeat. As bad as I'm sure it is, I don't get much real downtime."

"I know the feeling. Even off duty I find myself spending most of my waking time working. I'm still working on my doctoral studies, and when I'm not busy with that, there is always someone having a crisis. I've even spent most of my shoreleave meeting with some of the Galileo crew."

He frowned into his glass of water, wishing he had spent more time with his parents and sister and less time counseling. He knew he was in desperate need of a break, especially following the surgery, but there was no end in sight.

"I really don't meet Caitians very often." he said smiling at her, "I hope you don't mind me saying so, but I hope to see more of you. When you do have free time, what do you enjoy doing?"

M'Ressa thought about that for a minute, with this latest project on the go she'd not stepped out for some real time off in months. "You know, the one thing I haven't done in a long while? A good hunt. Not what humans think of as a hunt but a proper hunt. Strictly wits & claws."

Teth's eyes widened at the mention of a hunt. His family had not eaten actual meat for generations, none the less chase down and animal and kill it. He was aware of some clans who did still practice the bloodsport, however. But the counselor personally wanted to inquire more out of morbid curiosity.

"What exactly do you hunt?"

M'Ressa could sense the change in Teth's demeanor when she mentioned the hunt. Her clan was amongst the last who still practiced the old ways and while it was still permitted, her father had been the last to go on a real hunt after real prey. Her sisters and her still continued the tradition but solely on the holodeck.

"Depends on what the holodeck provides." She paused. "My father was the last of our clan to participate in the hunt in the fashion our ancestors once did. That was many years ago and my sisters and I have only taken part through programs on the holodeck."

"So... what, then? Large animals of some kind? People?"

"Strictly prey species. Nothing else."

M'Ressa paused. She could sense in Miir's body language that he was uncomfortable with the topic. Like a lot of humans in this century, Caitians had grown past the need for hunting and the taking of life in the fashion of hunting. The invention of replicators with decent programs for meat had pretty much wiped out the need for animal husbandry or hunting in modern society.

"I'm obviously making you uncomfortable Teth. Let's just call it an old tradition of my clan's and leave it at that. I do have other activities I enjoy which are probably more to your liking." She smiled. "Earth has an old tradition called theatre which goes back several millennia into their past. It can be interesting to watch sometimes, and in fact, there is an old performance in London dating back to their late 20th century that I found rather amusing."

Teth's expression brightened immediately at the mention of theatre.

"You know, I spent most of my childhood here on Earth. I was in several school plays as an adolescent. I don't think I am a very good actor, but it was always a lot of fun, both to take part in and to watch. What is the performance in London?"

"Cats. Amused me how human's anthropomorphized their animals only to discover Caitians several centuries later. The play being run right now is quite well done in fact, tho true to the original from what I've heard."

"I've heard of it but never seen it." he, feeling a sudden rush of confidence, "Would you like to go?"

"I could be persuaded I think. Been a while and I do need some down time."

"Excellent." Teth smiled, "I look forward to it. Do you happen to know when the next showing is?"

"I'd have to look but I thought they usually ran performances most nights. When did you have some time off?"

"Tonight." he said, as he finished his last bite of hasperat, "If you're free, of course. It has been quite some time since I've seen a play in the presence of a fascinating and beautiful lady such as yourself."

"I pretty much make my own hours so tonight would be fine." Truth be told, M'Ressa had been missing the interaction with one of her own people. It was not that she didn't enjoy the people she was surrounded by but the smells and sounds of this foreign world were different and she was a bit homesick. Just being around Teth was a breath of fresh air and a taste of home in many ways.

She reached across the table and placed her paw on Teth's. "I would enjoy the company Teth."

Absolutely beaming, Teth cupped M'Ressa's hand i his own.

"I look forward to it. I'll meet you at the transporter station at 1500 hours?"

"I'll be there."

END.


Lt. JG Teth Miir
Counselor
USS Galileo

&

PO2 M'Ressa
Biotechnologist
USS Galileo

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