An Odd Reception

Posted on Fri Dec 4th, 2020 @ 11:59pm by Commanding Officer Maralen Seitha & Science Specialist Eos Tolján
Edited on on Sat Dec 5th, 2020 @ 12:00am

Mission: New Starts
Location: Eos' Quarters
Timeline: 247912.31

For the most part, Maralen had met his senior staff. Technically, the woman he was currently looking for was not a department head, but he was curious to meet her. Her dossier had piqued his curiosity, and he suspected he might just pique hers given that he was the last of his species and she was an anthropologist.

He made his way to her office/lab and keyed the door chime. Being both the anthropologist and archaeologist, she had been given a combination area to work in.

The ache in her shoulder and a persistent voice brought Eos out of a daze. Why did she think she could handle this?

"You keep rubbing your shoulder." In typical Ajreen fashion, his remark was loaded like an interrogation. Sometimes she felt like the child in the relationship, although she could hardly expect him to be different. She raised him after all.

Eos sighed, and re-positioned one of the many crystals that decorated her office. "Someone has an injured arm. It bothers me here." Which was unfair, she had specifically requested her office and quarters be in the least populated areas so she wouldn't pick up so much.

"I think they should be persuaded to tend to their injury."

Eos turned to look at him. Lavender eyes meeting sea green, she could see he wasn't going to let this go easily. "I am not sure-" She paused.

They both turned to look at the door in an eerie union just before the chime filled the air.

Ajreen, without prompting, went to the door and opened it. His face a blank mask as he took in the felinoid before him. He said nothing in the way of greeting; instead, he put that responsibility onto their guest.

That was an odd reception, Maralen thought as the man opened the door and simply stood there. For a moment, Maralen stood as well, taking in the other's appearance. After that momentary scrutiny, he spoke. "I am looking for Eos Toljan. I am Maralen Seitha, the commanding officer of this vessel. I just wanted to introduce myself and see if there was anything she needed. You must be Ajreen, correct?" He knew the younger man's identity; he'd read the dossiers of the two here, but he was being polite and not "showing off" that eidetic memory.

Ajreen tilted his head with the air of one who wasn't curious so much as tolerantly impatient.

Eos sighed, "Ajreen. Don't be difficult."

He looked at her and a silent message passed between them. He then stepped aside to allow Maralen to pass through the doorway.

As Ajreen made to leave Eos added, "Only inquire..nothing else." referring to him finding out who nearby had a hurting shoulder. Eos found she couldn't block everything out and her own shoulder ached because of it.

She touched one of the many crystals around her office. The inaudible vibration soothed her nerves, helped her mind to stay in the present. Grounded, Eos turned to Maralen, like Ajreen she didn't offer much in the way of greeting. Although she wasn't as rude.

"Hello."

As Maralen watched the two, he found the interaction... fascinating. Most humanoids, if they were not raised by beings like the Realm, seemed to talk far more than was strictly necessary. It might be that they had little or no telepathy and were, thus, forced to babble like rivers of words. Sometimes he found it difficult to fit into that 'world', always having been more quiet, though adventurous as a kitten.

"Hello, I hope I haven't come at a bad time?" He had observed that they had been in a conversation when he'd entered. "I can come back later if I have."

"Not at all. My apologies for not having yet made my introductions." She said politely and without giving any hint to her thoughts. Eos' eyes swept over him, pleased to meet one of his kind. There was very little that gave her pleasure anymore but meeting someone who was the last of his species was a delight, even if she gave no outward appearance that it did.

Maralen smiled and shrugged lightly. His warm brown eyes had assessed her in a second, and now they were focused on her lilac ones. An unusual color, he mused to himself behind his walls. He could count the number of times he had seen that eye color on one hand and have fingers left over. He had read her dossier and was fascinated by her species. He had spent two years in extensive libraries learning languages and cultures, but that had been a long time ago. Nowadays, this was a rare treat.

"It's no problem, and this isn't entirely official. Meaning, I don't expect you to salute or sit at attention or any of that. I just wanted to meet you and learn a little about you before we potentially need to depend upon one another for our lives."

"That is just as well since I don't believe I have ever followed such protocols before." There was a touch of humor in her tone for a brief moment. "How is it you wish to know me?"

Maralen chuckled softly but nodded. "Well, I have read your dossier, but I would like to know who you are beyond that. I usually ask, 'Tell me something about you that I can't find in your file.' as a starter question." He motioned toward one of the nearby chairs. "May I sit, by the way?"

Eos gestured to a chair "By all means." She turned away for a moment to touch a crystal, grounding herself again. Not catching the way the light in the room slightly dimmed for half a second. It was easier to be in control when Ajreen was around, to stay focused in the moment and in her own life. So many impressions nudging at her mind, demanding to be noticed and sometimes, like in the case of the injured shoulder..they pressed on her, confused her.

Turning back around, Eos replied, "There is much about myself that not even I know. I'm afraid you may be out of luck. Unless knowing my favorite color is somehow pleasing. " There were things not in her dossier that she did not intend to reveal to anyone. Ajreen had earned the right to be her confidant and to know her to any intimate degree. All who once had were now long dead.

Maralen had watched the gesture of touching the crystal, which in and of itself, would have been barely worth noting except that she seemed to have a number of them. But the fact that the lights dimmed slightly as she did so caught his attention, and he narrowed his gaze in study of her until she turned back to him, and his expression returned to its normal calm look.

A soft chuckle came in response to that. "Well, it might be fun to know, yes. That wasn't really what I was after though. I really meant things you like, things you enjoy doing, odd details that you wouldn't necessarily have in your file but that are harmless for others to know." He glanced to the crystals in the room then back to her. "Like the crystals, for example. You seem to favor them, and they are lovely. Some cultures believe that certain crystals have healing properties." He stopped and shook his head. I apologize. I can imagine that sounded like rambling."

Eos scrutinized him as she debated internally if she wanted to reveal anything at all with the crystals. Sometimes she found it amazing that others couldn't feel them, the crystals, nor find comfort in them. Maralen gave off a friendly air but there was more beneath that she wasn't at all sure she could trust.

"I find them comforting. I'm sensitive to their signatures, the unique vibrations or tones they give off. I do not doubt for some they can heal." She had decided that was enough, there was no need to go into how they kept her from losing her mind. Eos didn't imagine that would go over well, although it already had been a rumor for many years.

"And my favorite colour is green."

Maralen could smell it, the 'offness' of her response. It wasn't so much that she was lying to him, but more that she was holding back. He had no idea what she was holding back, but he also knew that if he wasn't telling everyone everything, he couldn't ask them to do so. So he let that feeling be what it was and pressed on.

"Green? Interesting. May I ask why green?" Some people associate colors with mental states like calm, or peace, or anger. Some associated sounds with feelings in the same way. Cats were sensitive to things most humanoids weren't, but they weren't omniscient, no matter what the small ones wanted people to think. Still, he could appreciate the effect of sound on something. I.e. why purring was comforting to most life forms. Maybe she saw colors in some similar way?

The look in Eos eyes grew distant, the feelings and impressions of her former life were faint yet powerful. The dichotomy of it was something she couldn't explain and the color green was part of it. It comforted her and yet overwhelmed her.

She chose to shrug. "It just is." Eos was suddenly aware of the number of shades of green among the crystals in her office. Anyone else might have felt awkward but for her it amused. She gave a small laugh and shook her head.

Maralen watched every nuance of her; he did that with everyone. It was how he had been trained. And her nuances were telling him that she didn't want to talk about it. Well, he could understand that; there were things he would not reveal to just anyone. He nodded. "Fair enough." But now where did he go with this? She had not really given him anything to work from... except perhaps the laugh? "Something amused you?" he asked, curious.

Eos gave a slight shrug. "I amuse myself. Perhaps a consequence of my only company for many years being Ajreen" She touched a crystal again. "he is not the most humorous of companions."

Maralen studied her for a moment. There was something odd about this woman, but he couldn't quite identify what it was. Something tugged at his mind, but it refused to identify itself, so he let it go for the time being. Believe it or not, I can understand that... at least to a point." He leaned back slightly. "May I ask you a personal question?"

"You may, but I make no promise to answer " Eos replied, suddenly feeling fatigued. Was it her or a stray impression making her tired? Coming out from her self imposed seclusion was more taxing than she had prepared for. This meant of course that Ajreen had been right and now he would be insufferable.

"Fair enough," Maralen acknowledged. "My question is this. Why did you request this position? What made you decide that you wanted to work here?"

Eos found the question somewhat disturbing. "I did not request. I received a notification about the FarVoyager post, shortly later I was given an invitation. " She frowned, "It was not specifically from any of your command staff., I did not think much of it as I have received other invitations over the years through offices rather than individuals." What she said was completely true plus the impression she had received had not felt threatening.

Maralen frowned, his trained paranoia kicking in. "Do you still have the invitation you received? And if you do, may I see it?" he asked. It was likely that it had been sent by Ashlyn's office, possibly her Second, S'Jano Vale, but Maralen now wanted to be sure.

Taking a deep breath and wishing for Ajreen's presence, Eos touched a crystal then went over to her desk. On her screen, she called up the invitation, thankful that Ajreen was brilliant at organizing her account. She sent the suggestion and invitation to sit side by side on the screen on the wall, it looked like a painting when not in use.

"I have sent them to you, but here you can see now what I received."

Maralen studied the images, narrowing his eyes at them. They looked official and genuine to him. He also knew that things like this could be faked, made to look so authentic that one could not tell the difference. "Well, they look fine to me, but I will look into it when I return to my office. It shouldn't take any time at all really to verify its authenticity." He looked back at her. "But for now, I wouldn't worry too much about it." He offered that warm smile again.

Eos tapped a key shutting off the wall screen. "I am glad to hear it." Deciding that despite her words she would be doing her own investigating. She did not like to be manipulated even if it appeared harmless.

The tiredness she had been feeling swept over her again, being around others, having to portray she was completely sound of mind was taxing. A sigh escaped her.

Maralen did not miss the fatigue. He did wonder about it, wonder if she was all right. Perhaps he should have Medical look in on her at some point. He decided that it was not his business until and unless it began to affect her work. He stood. "As I said, I will look into it. For now, though, I will leave you to finish getting settled in. It was a pleasure to meet you, and welcome to the FarVoyager." He gave a slight bow of his head in farewell, then he politely showed himself out, leaving her to her own business. He had work to do anyway, after all.

Eos watched him leave and turned to a crystal and its soothing vibrations. It remained to be seen if she was capable of settling in. Only time would tell.

- End -