Living With Strangers

Posted on 18 Mar 2014 @ 8:39pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Viru Evek & Ensign K'os Beaumont
Edited on on 21 Mar 2014 @ 2:35pm

2,000 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo, Crew Quarters, Deck 4, Rm. 1109-N
Timeline: MD3, 23:15

ON:

Viru had been dreaming of a vague and dark entity taking control of the ship, turning it's crew one by one into mindless minions. All determined to achieve one goal. Pooling together all of the ship's replicator resources to synthesize eggs for an army of extra-dimensional winged squid beings. When he heard stirring across the room from his bunk, he was certain that it was one of the creatures breaking through the wall to devour his brain and enlist him into it's mindless ranks of servants.

He opened his eyes and nearly jumped out of his bed. There was a Vulcan sitting at the desk. This was confusing since he was expecting a human given the name he was told belonged to his room mate.

"Are you PO3 Beaumont? I guess you're just half human?" the Cardassian was groggy and less than tactful. "I'm Viru Evek, it's nice to meet you."

K'os put down the PADD he was studying from. He was dressed the way he always did when he studied. He wore his usual starfleet work out pants and a tshirt. The room was lit only by a small light at the desk. He didn't want to disturb his roommate and was perfectly fine sitting quietly and reading. He was a little surprised he woke so suddenly. "K'os Beaumont." He confirmed with a warm smile. "I'm sorry if I woke you. I was trying to be as silent as possible."

"Don't worry about it, I was having a dream about enter-dimensional squids destroying the Federation and life as we know it. Not especially restful."

He noticed the pad that K'os had placed on his desk.

"Studying?"

He had raised his rounded eyebrows at the reference to his dream. K'os had pretty vivid dreams himself. He didn't know how private Cardassians were about such things and didn't want Viru to think he was prying by asking him more about it; instead he nodded towards his homework. "Flight control operations for the Type-9 shuttle craft. I have certifications to study for. It's quite interesting." He ran his hand through his hair, making it stick up in some places. While he hadn't met the man yet, he knew the name. A Cardassian Petty Officer didn't exactly go unnoticed, and word spread very quickly among the enlisted.


"Sounds exciting." the Cardassian said, not trying to sound sarcastic, but ultimately failing.

"I'm a chemist. I've always been rather useless with anything involving flying or navigation.

Viru was actually a quite proficient shuttle pilot, unbeknownst to Starfleet. He never wanted to be volunteered for flight service training. He was quite content to spend all of his time in a lab.

The hybrid as usual didn't seem to detect the sarcasm, or if he did he didn't show it. His smile never wavered. "Chemistry is a lot more interesting than shuttle flying." He agreed before leaning forward and propping his elbow on the desk, resting his chin in his hand.

"I thought so." Viru agreed. And it was quite true. Manipulating chemicals to achieve some greater purpose made him feel almost god-like,

"So, you're half human and half vulcan. Which half is dominant?"

"I haven't decided yet." He laughed heartily, making his eyes water. He never really thought of himself as either. He focused his mind to turn his amusement down causing the laugh to trail off making his face momentarily passive before he replaced it with his calm but warm smile again. "Though a lot of people like to offer their own opinion on the matter."

"Well, I think you are something different from the two entirely." Viru said with a warm, almost flirtatious smile. "I was born and raised on Bajor. By Bajorans. Needless to say it wasn't the warmest of upbringings. Most of the time I feel more human than anything. But that's by choice."

"Why wasn't it the warmest? You weren't treated well on Bajor?" He knew full well about the history involved, but he always struggled to understand xenophobia. Even in this context he couldn't fathom why they would treat Viru differently. He suddenly turned pink with embarrassment and he raised his eyebrows in surprise that he'd even asked. "I'm sorry, that wasn't my business to ask."

"It's fine. Honestly, it's refreshing. My life before Starfleet is not something I get to discuss very often. I was raised at an orphanage by Bajoran monks. My parents, according to them, were war criminals who were executed by the Bajoran authorities for their crimes. I was constantly reminded by the clerics that I was the child of monsters and that I shoudl repent for the sins of my ancestors."

Evek laughed to himself as he pulled his covers off and headed toward his locker to retrieve his uniform, dressed in Starfleet issue athletic shorts and a tight black tshirt.

"Of course If they were ever in a bad mood, I took the brunt of their frustrations. I was the only Cardassian child there. Anyway..." he pulled on his pants and pulled off his shirt, "It's not the most uplifting story. But I feel no warmth for Bajorans or other Cardassians. I am something different and new, too. Just like you."

K'os nodded in agreement, but his face was set in a scowl. Viru's account reminded him of his time on Vulcan and how he was severely bullied by students and even at times his own teachers. He thought of his Uncle and immediately dashed the thought away. His expression went from brief anger before being replaced once again with his warm smile. After concentrating for an entire eight hour shift his control was harder to maintain.

"People do irrational things when their minds are controlled by fear and anger." K'os tried to be reassuring, but he wasn't certain if he said it more for himself or to offer a condolence to Viru that didn't sound like a cliched platitude.

"That is quite true. And I have never met a more fearful bunch that Bajoran clerics. But I digress."

He pulled on his undershirt and then his uniform tunic. Still barefoot, he picked up a comb and walked to a wall mounted mirror to start combing his hair, short by Cardassian standards.

"Life is much brighter now. I am on a new ship, making new friends." he turned to K'os and smiled, "I would like to be your friend."

"Oh, I love making friends." His smile quickly turned to a tight-lipped grin that popped his dimples out. His controlled slipped and he became a little more excited. "My peers always assume I'm an introvert because I like to be alone. I think they imagine me tinkering away on some engineering project by myself. But I love listening to people talk or tell stories. You seem like someone who might have a few good stories to tell." His tone had become quite gregarious, very quickly.

"I have my share." Viru admitted, "But I can relate to you. I usually spend free time in my quarters or in the lab. You know there was this awful rumor at my previous post that I was some kind of drug pedlar. It was completely unfounded, of course. Who even does that in this day and age?"

"That does sound awful." He said truthfully. "And I think a lot of people probably still do that these days. Distribute drugs that is. Doctor's for one." He chuckled, "I suppose bartenders too." He thought for a moment. "How do you think rumours like that get started?" He would hate if any sort of false rumour ever went around about him.

"I don't know. I suppose my line of work doesn't help. And there was someone at my last post who would distribute them for pay anonymously. Everyone saw the Cardassian chemist and just assumed it was me, I guess. I never got into any trouble, it was never substantiated."

K'os shook his head at that. "My mother used to be fond of saying, 'correlation does not imply causation.' Seems appropriate in your context." Being a secondary school biology teacher, she was usually fond of reciting many different quotes and lessons from a science perspective.

Viru smiled slightly, imagining he roommate as a tiny fuzzy haired child, living in a warm, caring home. Someone who cared enough to impart important knowledge onto them. Not religious dogma and rules, but actualy, useful life information.

"She sounds like a lovely woman."

K'os smiled warmly. "Yes she was." He absently rubbed at an itch in his eye and his expression went from happy to very surprised when his fingers felt wetness. He was crying? He quickly stood and considered running to the bathroom but stopped himself in time. His concentration came back into focus and he slowly sat back down. "I'm sorry, it's been a long day. I'm not usually like this." The tears stopped, but with them his smile faded and his face became more passive by the time he'd sat back down.

"I am sorry you lost her." was probably one of the most sincere statements Viru had made in a very long time. In spite of his difficulty relating to his peers, loss and grief were things he was intimately acquainted.

The Cardassian walked to the replicator, grabbing socks from the drawer on the way.

"Coffee, black. One hundred and fifty degrees C."

K'os was still a little stunned by his display. He hadn't cried over his mother in a very long time. "All things are impermanent." He echoed his mother's words more to remind himself of them than to impart any sort of wisdom on Viru. K'os didn't feel all that wise right now. He ran his hands through his hair messing it up even further.

"That is definitely an accurate statement." Viru set the coffee down on a small platform in his bunk which was supposed to act as a night stand of sorts, just exceedingly small. He put on his socks and boots before finally taking a sip.

"We will all be gone, I guess the best we can hope for is some kind of legacy from some small part of us to live on. Your mother get's to live on in you. My parents, whoever or whatever they were, are still alive in me. I suppose that's the way of existence for us corporeal lifeforms."

K'os thought about those words, repeating them in his head. It was nice talking to someone that understood his philosophies and way of thinking. Viru seemed at ease talking to him, even considering the hybrid's emotional outburst. "That was very well said, Viru." His smile was tight-lipped, producing dimples in his cheeks.

"Thank you." Viru said with a pleased smirk.

"I don't usually get to discuss these kinds of things. People often end up getting offended."

"Oh, it's very hard to offend me." K'os chuckled. "You can discuss those kinds of things with me anytime." Which was very true. K'os didn't take offense to things very easily and he was enjoying his conversation with Viru very much. It was just too bad they worked such opposite shifts and wouldn't have a lot of time to talk.

"Well it's been nice talking with you, Mr. Beumont." the Cardassian finished his coffee in a single gulp.

"I need to get going, I was hoping to get into the lab early today. I have a personal project that I've been working on."

"Yes, of course." K'os understood personal projects all too well. He scooped the PADD off the table. "It's been very nice talking with you, too." He beamed him a smile as if to prove the point.

"I will see you later, I'm sure." the Cardassian said, returning the smile with a slight nod before walking out the door.


[END]


PO3 K'os Beaumont
Matter/Energy Systems Specialist
USS Galileo


&

PO1 Viru Evek
Chemist
USS Galileo

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