Fiom A Glance To A Whatever That Was

Posted on 23 Feb 2015 @ 8:28am by Jonah Chaparral M.D. & Ensign Arandon Khnailmnae Ph.D.
Edited on on 24 Feb 2015 @ 3:17am

2,238 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo - Lounge
Timeline: MD 44 0200

[ON]

Jonah wasn't in an especially good mood, though of course that was not altogether uncommon for him He hit the gym for an hour or so, then after showering he changed into a pair if jeans and a teal scrub top.

Then he headed to the lounge with his hair still damp. He stepped inside looking around the rather crowded room. He didn't immediately see an empty table, so he went to the bar where he got Cosmopolitan. Okay so it was the quintessential gay drink, but he didn't much care about that. He liked them.

He glanced back around the room and spotted a table towards the back near the viewport. There was a single occupant at it, but he figured it was his best shot. He really didn't want to sit there at the bar.

As he got closer he was glad that he had made the choice, the occupant was both attractive and exotic looking, possibly even out of his league, if of course he was even on the same team .

"Excuse me," he said, "Do you mind if I sit down?"

Arandon had just popped into the lounge to grab a drink on his way back to his quarters from planting some samples in the Arboretum. It was late and he wanted to reset his internal clock to the Galileo's time as soon as possible. Looking up at the man who disturbed him, Arandon thought now might be the time to make a B line for the exit. He quietly stood up and turned to the man. "Of course, I was just leaving."

"Really? " Jonah asked with a smile, "I was kind of hoping not to drink alone. Its a rather spectacular view here."

Arandon glanced back at the sound of the man's voice. "I just stopped in for a quick drink on my way back from performing some work in the Arboretum."

"Really? that's interesting, Jonah replied sincerely.

Arandon exhaled. "I'm a botanist yes, and you are?"

I'm a epidemiologist, a civilian actually. I love spending time outdoors and as a matter of fact, I believe in natural healing for many ailments and use plants a lot. But don't let me keep you if you need to go."

"I can..." Arandon looked around the room for a few moments. The man was essentially pleading with his sense of common social decency. Well, if Arandon had any. "... stay for a few minutes." Arandon sat down at the end of the table, opposite the Doctor.

~This is insane, I feel like I am in High School, why don't you just let the man go in peace~ he thought, but what he said was, "What are you drinking? Can I get you another?"

"Virgin Risian Mai-tai." Arandon said simply. He wasn't one to indulge in alcohol, which perhaps said a bit more about him than he would like people to know. He liked the different flavors of alcohol, but not what it did to one's lucidity and state of mind.

"One virgin Risian Mai-tai it is. I'm drinking a Cosmo, but I usually only have a couple of those." He went to the bar and came back a few minutes with two fresh drinks. He sat them down and said, "This is going to sound like a cheesy pick-up line, but I don't think I've see you here before. Are you new?"

Arandon took the glass in his hand but didn't touch the drink just yet. "Yes, I came aboard this afternoon," he said rather quietly. Small talk was nice, Arandon could do small talk, but he couldn't help but get the sense that this Doctor felt something else. He didn't need to be a telepath to read the physical indicators of attraction.

Jonah wasn't sure exactly what to do. If he'd been a mind reader he would have gotten more to the point. He could be rather blunt at times, knew that was a weakness if it went too far. And he'd never be so crass, or shallow, well maybe shallow enough, as to say something along the lines of 'nice shoes let's fuck.'

That held doubly true of someone on board that he could run into. So he decided to at least try a topic that he had a genuine interest it. So what do you think of Echinacea really good for treating wounds and fighting infection? "

"And the common cold, allegedly." Arandon said plainly, a bit of an innocent exuberance in his voice. It was refreshing to meet someone who knew just a bit about plants.

"And I'm sorry, we know each other's professions, but not names I am Jonah Chaparral."

"Arandon Khnailmnae," he said with a nod of his head. Arandon turned to his drink and took a sip, a silence filled the air as he did so and while he didn't mind it or even particularly notice, he felt his companion shuffle around, trying to keep the conversation going.

Jonah Chaparral nice to meet you." the doctor said. Indeed he was trying to keep the discussion going. After a brief pause he said. "Congratulations Arandon, though it maybe more me than you, but I have a pretty glib tongue, but you I don't really know what to say. You make me feel, I don't know like I'm 15 again and asking my best friend to the Prom. I'm sorry that probably sounds really stupid."

Arandon responded quickly. "I'm from Risa, I've heard all of the stupid lines in the galaxy." His remark was either a joke or a jab, his tone masking the intent of either.

Jonah cocked his head to the left slightly, "Then I won't be foolish enough to make one." he responded, "I may not be the most philosophical man you'll meet, and I'm no saint. But I don't make racial jokes or insult someone else's heritage."

Arandon gave a small smile at the comment, a small one. "Well that is good to know." His tone was still quiet and a bit robotic. "So have you ever been to Risa?" His question was simple enough and after his conversation with Mott, he could no longer assume that every Starfleet officer or person otherwise serving aboard a Starfleet vessel, had been to his legendary homeworld.

"Once, a while ago. But, no offense the places I visited were too, I don't know touristy. I'm sure if I was there for a longer time, or had a chance to visit the real Risa it would be different."

"The real Risa is one of either two things really: the planet in its natural, swampy, tectonically active state or those little secluded places where not a lot of people know about. Alas there are few." Arandon didn't say it with a lamenting tone, but his voice did get softer. "It is beautiful though, regardless of where you go."

"Oh, it is beautiful, there is no doubt about it and Risains are beautiful people. Take you for example."

Arandon gave another small smile. It appeared Doctor Chaparral's nervousness was melting away. "Like so much on Risa, not all of my people's beauty is entirely natural." He ignored the comment on his own appearance.

"Really?" Jonah was intrigued more now than ever, "What exactly do you mean?"

"Well..." Arandon's voice was at a whisper, which was sort of his version of playful, or the equivalent. He too was beginning to loosen up around the good Doctor, though he was still a bit rigid. "... certain bits are enhanced or the product of certain selective... policies and procedures, before we joined the Federation that is."

"Oh?" they half Elasian replied with an expression that was something of a cross between a smile and a smirk, "and what parts are enhanced?"

A full smile broke out on Arandon's face but he turned off to the side. Shaking his head a bit he turned back to Dr. Chaparral. "Simple beauty Doctor, you'll never meet an ugly Risian."

"Well if you are any example then I don't doubt you're telling the truth. Would it offend you if I said, you were an attractive man."

It wasn't as if Arandon had never heard that before, no he had heard it many times. It wasn't vanity on his part, he didn't like or dislike the attention he got from others, though he was more willing to go under the radar. Still, he abided by the Risian philosophy that 'all that is ours is yours'. "No, not at all." His voice wasn't exactly warm, more reassuring. Humans were pretty withdrawn with their mating rituals, especially those who lacked confidence in their interactions with their preferred sex.

"Good, I am usually more forward, sometimes too forward for my own good. So I am glad that you're not offended." He took a sip of his drink and set it down.

He really wasn't sure what to do next, there was no doubt in his mind that he was attracted to the hybrid Risan officer, but just how was he attracted to him A one night fling? He wouldn't rule that out. But when he had spoken to the counselor they had talked about that kind of thing. Something more? That really wasn't him either. So he decided to just be honest.

"I'll be frank with you Arandon I'm really not sure where to take this conversation. In the past I'd just ask to sleep with you and take my chances that you'd say yes or that you'd slap me. But I am trying to change to be something, to be someone different."

If Arandon was Jonah's trial run at normalcy, he should have looked elsewhere. He tried to soften his posture and tone to convey that. "I don't know if I'm the best person for 'different' then," his tone was soft, his face sympathetic. "I'm far from the poster child for traditional Human values."

Jonah shrugged his shoulders, "So not one for relationships. or traditional ones anyway, I take it?"

His voice and tone were very matter of fact. "Not as Humans define them no," he said with a straight face.

Jonah let out a sigh. Okay so maybe Mr. Right Now was still okay. Especially since Arandon was so damned hot. "I could probably live with that, I am pretty non traditional myself. So, I guess Risan's are pretty direct?"

"I think 'open' would be a better word for it, but yes. Our planet is built to provide pleasure and relaxation, the people are no different," Arandon said with a distant musing tone.

"I like open. You know I'm attracted to you. Is that feeling mutual?"

The tone of Arandon's voice made it seem more like a statement than a question. "And if it was?" His face was one of cold, stoic curiosity.

Jonah didn't know what to make of the Risan. The answer gave him more questions than answers. He took a sip of his drink once more finishing it off and setting it aside.

"Well there are things I would love to do with you if it was the case. I have a great imagination. And I am sorely tempted to just reach across the table and kiss you. Because Mr. Right Now is always preferable to Mt. Right. Or it was. But I'm afraid that we'd have a really great time and then have to deal with the consequences.

So, and don't believe I'm doing this, I'm going to suggest we try something more conventional. Something called friendship."

Conventional indeed, and a bit unexpected. In a way, Arandon felt sex would have been easier. He didn't make friends, it wasn't a matter of making them easily, he simply just did not get close to people. He was superficial and professional, and when he wasn't, it was typical Risian and physical. It was never intimate. The only words he could muster up was, "I... perhaps."

Jonah stood to his feet. "I'm going to go now because I know if I stay here I'm going to ask you something stupid, like 'what are you into and then I'm not going to want to stop with just asking. I'll take perhaps. For now. Good night Arandon."

Arandon was left sitting at the table alone, considering his very odd conversation with the Doctor. He honestly didn't know what to think about Jonah, nor the proposition (of all things) for friendship. The directness he could appreciate, that it led to something as innocent as 'friendship' was... unnerving? Confusing? No, it was something else. For the next several minutes he pondered the preceding few minutes while subconsciously rotating the nearly empty glass in his hand, the rotating motions mimicking the spinning wheels in his head. Indeed, this assignment was challenging more aspects of his own personality in the first few days than four years at the Academy and his entire time spent on Mars.

Still, Jonah's offer was something to consider, especially in light of Arandon's only true acquaintance on the Galileo being Mott. It was something best slept on though, and Arandon arose from the table to return to his quarters, where he would either mull this over some more, or put it out of his mind entirely.

[OFF]

A joint post by

Jonah Chaparral MD
Civilian Doctor
PNPC Jared Nicholas
USSGalileo

Ensign Arandon Khnailmnae
Botanist
USSGalileo

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