A Pop of Color

Posted on Thu Jan 10th, 2019 @ 10:07am by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Lieutenant Asa Dael

Mission: Section 31-B
Location: Asa's quarters
Timeline: 2396

The door chime sounded about 0.4 hours sooner than Lieutenant Junior Grade Asa Dael was prepared for. Granted, not much was going to save their attempt at cooking, but the doctor had still been hoping for a bit more time to prepare.

As the door gave entry to Melanie Dox, Asa ran their hands through their closely shorn hair. Scrambled eggs with bacon and toast had seemed like such a safe plan. That was before Asa learned how much bacon grease pops when cooked, causing them to need to change shirts twice, and leaving the doctor thankful there was no need for a fire alarm in their quarters.

Outside of the kitchen area, the rest of their quarters was as austere as when they first moved in. Aside from a few pictures of Asa’s late mother and brother, they had not individualized the space. It was moderately embarrassing, but there just had not been time to fret over such frippery until the last few days.

“Um, Hi Melanie, come on in,” Asa called over their shoulder.

A little ball of nervousness in her stomach tightened slightly as Melanie stepped in, a small canvas bag in one hand. Almost any kind of social scenerio tended to get to the anxious young pilot, but she was determined to continue pushing past that with the friends she had been making on board the Hera. And she certain counted Asa among the best of those.

"Hey, Doc. Uh... sorry to pop over early... Um... But I thought maybe I could help." The short, rotund young part-Romulan smiled awkwardly as she stepped in. "But also, there's no bulkhead thick enough to block the smell of bacon." She chuckled slightly as she spoke.

"Right??" Dael replied enthusiastically, "It's not hard to see why 20th Century eathers started the tradition of putting bacon in so much of their food. If you want to grate some cheese, that would be good. I was just about to scramble the eggs...as soon as I remember how to do that. Hey, how you feeling with the DNA patch? Those green veins are looking goooood!"

Dox put her bag down near the door and sheepishly looked at her wrist as she stepped over to the cheese Asa had gestured towards. As the skilled El Aurian doctor had mentioned, her veins were visibly green now as a result of extensive genetic therapy to repair the recently discovered genetic manipulation Melanie's father had done to her as a child to try and repress her Romulan DNA.

"Yeah..." Melanie chuckled awkwardly. "This... Is going to take some getting used to, ya'know? It's weird." Not wanting to allow herself to wallow in her own tendency to overthink and lament the events of her childhood that she had only recently learned about, she decided to bring the tone back up.

"And hey, you may get a really good look at how my veins are doing depending on how well I can handle this thing." Melanie said with a more relaxed laugh, holding up the cheese grater and waving it back and forth.

Peeking over at Melanies arms, Asa nodded to themself, happy with the progress thus far. "Weeeeeeeeellllll, let's not get quite that close a view, if you don't mind," they said with a wink.

"I'm not the best cook ever, but I generally try to avoid seasoning with blood. Gotta keep work and home separate, ya know? You ever wanna get super weird, there is this outpost near Fluxon 9 that sells tablets that turn make your blood glow under black light, so when they party with black lights on, you can see everyone's veins gyrating to the music. Always sounded like a bit of a weird fascination, but hey, to each their own."

"Oh my... seriously? Yeah, no. Just green is weird enough right now. Nobody needs to see me looking like an emergency glow stick." Melanie chuckled as she grated the cheese.

The doctor snorted a laugh at the mental picture.

"Now, I can't cook to save my life, but I brought over some stuff I programmed into the replicator." Melanie gestured with her head towards to the bag at the door. "Been trying to kind of reincorporate some old dishes my mother used to... well... replicate. She can't cook either." Melanie chuckled lightly as she spoke. "Romulan stuff that I haven't really let myself eat in years."

"So, for desert I brought over some Romii tree candy, Osol twists, AND a bottle of lehe'jhme wine that the Baroness gave me."

"Never had any of it, but I do love dessert, so I'm sure it's great!" Asa enthused, "And I always thought blacklight veins was weird myself. Imagine what its like after filtered out by the liver and kidneys....does it make your pee glow? As a person, I'm curious. As a doctor, I'm a bit mortified."

When the bacon had cooked as was coming out of the oven, Asa reached for an oven mitt, and noticed the mitt was beige. The walls were beige. Their bed cover was brown. The whole dang quarters was brown, beige, or gray. Having not spent too much time in their quarters, the doctor had not noticed previously.

"Melanie....it's really sad in here, isn't it? Good grief, Starfleet loved some earthen tones when they decorated in here. I need to spruce this place up. What do you think, you up for some decorating tonight?"

"Ouyyirev, you're asking ME? Asa, you've been in my quarters. It's the same room, except I finally put up a shelf." Melanie laughed.

"A shelf." Letting out a chuckle, Melanie continued. "But we are two reasonably competent Junior Lieutenants. We should be able to handle this." She shot a smile over her shoulder at Asa.

Giggling Asa realized they had just asked someone with no decorations in their quarters for decorating advise. The doctor was putting the eggs on to cook and replied, "We are a bit silly, aren't we? Rita's quarters look like she has lived there forever, and she hasn't been here much longer than us. I guess some people just have the touch. Gee....I wonder if the holo-projectors work on the wall? How cool would that be to have walls that change color and design on a whim? Bad day? Turn on the groovy space wall. Tired? Moonlight over an ocean. Think about it Melanie!"

By the conclusion of their speech, Asa was all but bouncing with the possibilities. While they were not really a decorator, the doctor had dabbled in art from time to time and had a general idea of what they were looking for. Mainly, color. And lots of it.

As Asa spoke, the much lower energy pilot couldn't help but smile. Melanie found Asa's enthusiasm infectious and very fun to be around. "Well, I can tell you know that yes, the holoprojectors can do that. I used them to pick out my... shelf." Letting out a chuckle at herself.

"Ya' know, just the one. Don't want to go crazy." The cheese was fully grated and she brought the bowl over to Asa. "And look, no green garnish on the cheese."

"Hm, ok". Asa plated the bacon and eggs, sprinkling the latter with cheese. They poured grits on each plate and all but drowned the grits in more cheese.

The doctor grabbed the plates and took them to the table, already replete with cutlery and tea. Motioning Melanie to have a seat, Asa continued, "well naturally not. Two shelves would be crazy talk. What about holo projected metallic sparkly curtains between rooms? Too much?"

The question was posed with a grin, indicating Asa qas not serious....well, not entirely serious.

Taking the plate offered, Melanie inhaled deeply, smiling as she spoke. "This smells absolutely delicious, Asa." However, over the last couple of days Melanie thought most foods smelled significantly better or worse than they would have before her gene therapy began.

As she set her plate down, Melanie took a sip of her tea while looking at the open partitions in the room and squinting. "Nah. Get real ones, they'll pick up and reflect the projected colors nicer."

Giggling, Asa replied, "I'm going to make this place look like a color addicted magpie. I do enjoy shiny things, and colorful. Screw it, I'm a professional all day. We're gonna make this place look HAPPY."

The young doctor beamed, picturing shiny curtains, glowing pictures, water features, and all the things they dreamt of growing up in the middle of nowhere. Of course, this would ruin any facade of adulthood to anyone who came in, but everyone deserves an oasis.

"Hnave, it's your room." Melanie interjected, tossing in a Rihan expletive for good measure. "I have a friend I think would tell me to not worry about what anyone else thinks about such things." She smiled, taking a bite of her eggs and making a long, moaning sound of enjoyment as she did. "Or words to that effect. Go for it."

With a snort, Asa began to eat and voraciously consumed bacon at a rate that would seem to belie their small stature. "True. What's a pretty world you can think of? I think a holo-projected landscape with a waterfall would be great. It could even transition from day to night lighting to help keep natural sleep rhythms. I just don't want to do Bajor...too many memories."

Pausing for a few seconds, Melanie took another bite to let her process Asa's last statement. She had read all of the senior staff bios when she came on board and so knew the broadest strokes of Asa's childhood on Bajor. But the talkative and energetic doctor rarely went into details on themselves. However, they were also having fun and so Melanie felt unsure as if she should ask further or let her friends happiness continue, and bemoaned internally how bad she was at socializing in any way.

Thinking about it, she decided to respond in order. "Well, I was a space baby. The only planet I ever lived on was Earth from... 16 until I graduated the academy. Couldn't get off it fast enough, so I have No idea. I'd probably do nebulas and spacescapes or something like that." Taking a drink between thoughts, Melanie leaned in a little.

"Your time on Bajor is something you've not talked about much? Did you want to?" Melanie felt awkward, hoping she didn't just upset her friend.

“Ooooooo Nebulas,” were the first words out of Asa’s mouth. The young doctor loved everything about space, and found so much beauty in the universe. Then, as if hearing the rest of Melanie’s question, they continued, “I don’t mind talking about it. I guess I’ve been reluctant because, to my people, I’m still a child. Not in the way all 50 year old humans look at 20 year old humans and say ‘kids’ these days’ while shaking their head, but, an actual child.”

The doctor reached towards their neck with their left hand, rubbing the back of their neck in a self-soothing gesture. They took a sip of tea and wolfed down a piece of bacon before continuing in a softer voice, “See, my people don’t have a home world anymore. The Borg put paid to that, and then there was that whole everyone-caught-in-a-Nexus-and-now-we-all-have-dormant-abilities-activating-when-we-almost-die thing, which would have been nice to know about before meeting freaking Hera by the way, thanks Dad,” the last was said with a sneer.

Smiling as she listened, Melanie took a bite and commented. "Yeah... what our parents don't tell us, right?"

Realizing they were ranting, Asa’s cheeks blushed slightly, then they continued, “Sorry, anyway, my parents moved to Bajor to live as Bajorans largely live and let live. Once they were living there, onc of the religions based around the wormhole started to infect our colony. Dad went full on religious nut-job, barring us from public schooling, medicine, most of the things great cultures are known for. His ignorance caused my mother to die in childbirth….My baby brother was sickly his whole life. I did what I could for him with the herbs and stolen medicine I procured from nearby villages, but it wasn’t enough. Ultimately, he died. I left home shortly after that and haven’t looked back. The planet is beautiful, and Bajorans were kind people for the most part….but when I see images of Bajor, I just see what I’ve lost.”

Hopping up and walking to the nearby desk, Asa grabbed two small pictures, one of a serene looking woman, similar to Asa but with a more voluptuous form, and a 14 year old boy, frail and skinny, but smiling hugely while reading with Asa nearby. Asa handed the photo’s over to Melanie, saying “This is them. It’s all I took from home when I left. I knew I was clever enough to get into the academy, so I did that. My father has no clue where I am, and if El-Aurian elders got wind of that fact…well, I might need some help not getting kidnapped and taken back home.

Looking at the picture, Dox chucked. "You've met the rest of us, right. I'm fairly certain that between the Captain, Commander Paris and Baroness von Alcott alone they would knock over three systems to stop that from happening." Taking a big bite of bacon, Dox mumbled with a full mouth. "Nor am I above excessive violence, liberally applied as needed."

The androgyne took their seat again, this time with ankles tucked under hind-quarters and arms wrapped around their knees in a self-soothing gesture. In an attempt at levity, Asa continued, “Whenever that last bit of puberty kicks in and my voice starts cracking and I get acne, that’s going to be super embarrassing. “

"I'm sorry to say I have remarkably little knowledge of El Aurian puberty. When the timeline for that. I know your people have extremely long life spans and honestly, that's about it." Dox was slightly embarrassed by her ignorance and blushed a dark green. "Sorry."

Reaching over to lightly punch Melanie's shoulder, Asa chuckled, "Not your fault, my people are annoyingly secretive about everything. As if it would somehow destroy our mystique for people to know we mature physically. Gasp, right? What about you, what was puberty like for you?"

"Aehallh... a nightmare." Dox laughed, rolling her eyes. "I was stuck on Earth, which I hated, living with grandparents I barely liked, surrounded by human teenagers that already gave me a hard time for being part-Romulan. Plus... I was mainlining largely unrestrained Romulan emotions which I managed as well as you can imagine. I was... not pleasant to be around."

Taking a drink of tea, Dox continued. "And that was with those genes artificially surpressed. Lately, I've been feeling like I'm in puberty, part two with my body chemistry finally being righted."

"Puberty buddies!" Asa cheered, toasting with their glass of tea.

"If we get sassy like normal teenagers do, imagine Rita's face!" Asa concluded with a poorly concealed smirk

Snorting and gagging in her tea as she laughed at the idea, Melanie laughed out loud as her throat cleared. "If I get a third as moody as I got the first time around, I think she would just jettison me out into space."

Chuckling Asa's face lit up. It was obvious a thought had just occured to them.

"Computer, holoproject The Avenue of Baobas as surrounding view to all walls please."



The walls shimmied as their appearance took on that of a blue sky, red dirt and grass, with alien looking trees that rose high into the sky with no branches until they rose into a crown atop the tree.



"What ya think?" Asa inquired sheepishly.

Standing up from her seat as her plate was now all but licked clean, Melanie walked around the room taking the projected views in, while sipping her tea. "It's... beautiful. Where is this?"

"Madagascar, on Earth," Dael replied, "I always meant to go, but just never had the time. I was thinking to have this during the day cycle and for night cycle transition to an all-starry sky. Any night time vista you recommend?"

"All I ever saw while I was on Earth was San Francisco and Ohio. It wasn't anything half this interesting." Dox mused. "As far as spacescapes, there's always the Serpens constellation in the Eagle Nebula, the Paulson Nebula or the M8 Lagoon Nebula. Those are all stunning."


"Ooooooooo nice," Asa replied, hopping to their feet and programming both into the computer to project on the walls during the evening time. After setting the program to run on rapid cycle ( about 60 seconds per image), Asa came back to the table and asked Dox, "So, what'cha think? Also, feels like I'm missing furniture. All I have is a love seat, a bed, a desk, and a workstation in the kitchen. What'cha think I need?"

Smirking somewhat awkwardly, Melanie stepped back to look at the room as a whole, with holographic images projecting across the walls. "Well, I have a punching dummy, but I wouldn't call that 'furniture'. I'm not sure... Maybe more places to sit. Like some chairs for visitors around a... What is it called... Coffee table?"

With a laugh, Asa replied, "That's way too grown up. How about an area full of bean bags and pillows and blankets and everyone can just lounge? That's WAY more fun. Plus if I get sick of it, I can just throw it all in the corner. Plus I need rugs. And a dresser. Short to the ground table can't hurt either."

In a dash, the young doctor had run over to grab a PaDD and was typing in specifications for what they wanted. "Purple, red, green, and blue, all gem tones....ok check. Cherry wood on the dresser....ok.....Hey, it's asking me for what type of fabric. What's that soft stuff called? Ankele?"

Walking over to the door where she had put down her bag, Melanie picked it back up pulling out the bottle of lehe'jhme wine and placing the rest on the table with their dinner plates. She held up the bottle, wiggling it from side to side as she spoke. "Would you like a glass?" Then answered the question asked to the best of her ability. "Soft stuff? Asa, I have no idea. Velour? Silk? No, not silk. We'd all slide off and end up on the decks." Dox chuckled as she spoke.

"Chanille? Are you thinking of chenille?" Melanie responded as it came to her.

"YES! That's it!!!!" the excited physician cried. They bolted over to the replicator, producing a pillow made of chenille in purple with emerald green piping. "Feel this stuff, how great is that?? And no, no silk, that stuff always made me feel weird. Like I was trying to get away with something and needed to be slippery...."

Feeling the pillow, Melanie smiled thinking about the threadbare, thin blanket in her quarters that she's held on to since childhood made of the same material. It was no longer soft, but it brought back pleasant memories. "Yeah, this is so very you."

Taking the initiative, the young pilot poured two glasses of the lehe'jhme wine as they spoke, handing Asa a glass and placing the bottle on the counter.

"Actually, If you're still in ElAurian puberty, am I allowed to offer you this?" The part-Romulan Officer smiled as she joked, although hoping she wasn't actually doing anything wrong.

"Wellllllll, I think the medical degree negates that, don't you? I always found cultures that would let people have careers or die in the military before they deemed that person old enough to drink to be odd, don't you?" Asa replied with a giggle.

"I'm... not the best person to ask, really." Melanie took a sip of the wine. "I kinda grew up on this stuff. I guess like the... what is it... the French culture on Earth. I'd drink this with dinner as a kid."

They accepted the drink, taking a huge sip at the fruity flavor, then turning bright red as the alcohol burn kicked in. "Wowza! That's something isn't it?" the surprised physician asked.

"It certainly can sneak up on you if you're not careful. So, a glass with dinner is good but I wouldn't suggest much more if you're not used to it, Doc." Smirking slightly as she spoke, Dox tilted her head back towards her bag. "Of course, I did bring dessert to soak it up. Do you like it, though? It's pretty sweet, but I know you like sweets."

With a mischievous smile, Asa reached out and grabbed some treats from the bag. "When have you known me to turn down dessert? That's the whole point of the meal!!"

Taking another sip of wine, Melanie smiled. "Hey, you introduced me to fondue. Now I can return the favor with some Romulan treats. Hope you like them."

There was nothing hesitant as Asa tried the candies. They immediately put one in their mouth and their face lit up with joy as they consumed the sweet food. "These are awesome! I swear, I could live on candy alone if only stupid nutrition would let me," the doctor said with a smile.

After that the doctor quickly finished replicating pillows, bean bags, rugs, and blankets, all in gemstone colors. Turning sheepishly towards Melanie, Asa asked, "So, um, what do you think? Too much?"

Putting her drink down on the table, Melanie smiled broadly at her friend as she eyed a large, green bean bag. "What do I think?" Flumping down lightly onto the bean bag as she spoke, Melanie looked up at Asa.

"istaere'edh. It's perfection, Asa. It's so wonderfully, perfectly you and I think it's fantastic." In the few months that she had been on the Hera, Melanie had made some of the only friends she had ever had in her adult life. Rita Paris had become something of an older sister to the young Romulan woman, and in turn Melanie felt a similar and familial relationship to the younger ElAurian doctor.

Growing up an only child, suddenly Melanie felt like she had a big sister and a younger sibling and it was a very good feeling. "But the number one, most important question, is do you like it?"

Taking a sip of wine and cuddling into a bean bag with a huge fluffy blanket atop them, Asa smiled hugely, “I love it. Life is hard enough, ones quarters should be comfy cozy.” The doctor snuggled in closer as the lights on the wall slowly rotated, showing different angles of the nebula and casting faint shadows and aura’s around the room.

All was peaceful for a moment until the doctor issued forth a huge hiccup. “Um, maybe that’s enough wine,” was all they said before reaching up to a nearby table and placing their wine cup.

Trying to contain a laugh, Melanie let our a harsh snort at Asa's hiccup as she leaned forward to get up, and failed at the attempt. "Yeah..." She chuckled as she talked. "I'd grab you your tea or a water or something, but your furniture..." She mock-struggled against the plush seat. "Your furniture appears to have eaten my ass."

Raising both fists high in the air, Dael replied, "Success! My diabolical plan has worked! Now you shall be stuck here forever! Mwahahahaha!" The doctor mock cackled at bit before rolling out of the bean bag and hopping up to grab some water. The sudden motion was a bit too much for the slightly intoxicated doctor, and they stumbled forward, caught themself on a nearby chair, and worked with gravity to do an impromptu somersault over the obstacle.

Standing up and looking quite pleased with the result, Asa said, "You know, I couldn't do that on purpose in a million years."

After a second of stunned silence, Dox let out a deep and throaty laugh, throwing her head back. "Nouhha, grab me a glass please. I need to not have anymore wine myself."

The young pilot barely had a single glass and could handle far more before it became a problem, but she wanted to keep her head clear to say what was on her mind, and had been all evening.

"Uh... I... Um... I have a question, actually, Asa." Nervously, she rubbed one of her ears. "A... request... Actually." Melanie's face went green as she blushed.

"I think... I think I'm ready for... A little remodeling of my own." She tugged on her ear conspicuously towards the doctor, hoping her meaning was clear.

Skipping back with a glass of water for Melanie, Asa threw themself on a nearby beanie and considered what had just been said.

"Yeah, of course. I was wondering if you wanted to when we started the gene therapy. Probably going to make your hearing sharper too, so you will get the joy of hearing every time I sing in the shower through the wall," Asa said with a wink.

Joking to somewhat relieve her own stress, Dox chuckled. "It is a price I am more than willing to pay, Freddie." Which was a reference to Asa's performance of a classic song by the Terran band 'Queen' on Ten-Forward a while back.

"Not going to lie though, it will hurt like a bitch the day of. Of course, we can manage the pain, but I don't want you to be surprised. We'll need to re-calibrate your helmet as well, but we need to do that anyway with all the new Romulan-ess in your system now. How has that been acting, by the way?"

"Well, I figured regrowing cartilage on my head wasn't going to be overtly pleasant while it was happening. It's not like a cosmetic prosthetic or anything. But even Lieutenant Sonak agreed that it would likely help me process what was going on inside better if my outsides matched what I saw in my head, if that makes any sense." Dox replied, somewhat more thoughtfully.

Then, after a somewhat strenuous effort, she sat upright in the bean bag to continue. "But it's been going... good, I guess. It's a lot of little subtle things I can just kinda... feel. Tiny things I guess I learned not to think about in day to day living. Like I was saying with Dinner, like things taste a little different. Everything is a little more... more.

"Like... Did you ever have pain that was so consistent you tended to forget it was there? Like a shoulder pain from just sitting hunched over your station weird every day at work. Then you get relief and suddenly you remember there was pain. It's like that, I guess. Like, I got so used to my body being out of whack, that you fixing it is a relief I didn't know I needed." She tugged on an ear, nervously. "Sorry, I'm rambling again."

Thoughtfully, Asa replied, "I think I know what you mean. It was like when as a kid I was forced to sit still too long listening to the elders. My butt would get sore, and then when I moved the thrill of movement bringing back sensation was uncomfortable at first, but ultimately felt sooooooo much better."

Taking a bite of on of the Osal Twists, Melanie nodded. "Yeah, that works too. So, now I can feel my butt again after it's been asleep." She moaned slightly at the taste. "See, this tastes better than I remember. Everything kind of does. Or extra worse." She chuckled while chewing.

"Still, I have to admit that I cannot imagine you have to sit through any elders speeches. I don't know a thing about ElAurian elders, but I'm general, if you hear about any cultures having 'elders' and you know your in for a loooonnngggg speech."

Forgetting her earlier restraint, Dox picked her wine back up and took a drink. "If you don't mind me asking, how old is "elder" where your people are concerned?"

"Around 850 or so, though most resent being called that till some time in their 900s. And you are sooooooooo right. Every time the kids act up, the elders have so much material for how things were better in their day, imagine being lectured how you dont appreciate things because you grew up since the discovery of warp drive technology? Or after the industrial revolution? The lectures were endless. But since we are supposed to all be great listeners, it was not acceptable to show any impatience. Sooooo boooooooooring" the doctor concluded, rolling their eyes for emphasis.

Dox rolled her eyes in mutual sympathy. "My mom was only... 47 when she had me, but was still more than capable of lecturing me into a coma when she wanted to. I can only imagine the ammunition having twenty some odd times the life experiences gave them for lecturing."

Sitting back in the bean bag, Dox took another drink and sighed. "It's weird. Until you fixed my DNA... I just figured my life span would be human. When I didn't now I'd been... broken. Now I'm looking at a potential life span more that twice that expectation. It... changes your perspective a little."

Stopping herself, Dox grunted as she pushed herself up from the ass eating seat. "Sorry. I don't mean to keep getting morose. I guess it's my base setting." She chuckled slightly, trying to bring her mood back up.

"Pfft, no worries. You are way too young for a existential crisis though. Besides, we serve on the Hera, I would say that takes your doubled life span and cuts in half again, so, net effect zero? I really don't dwell on the centuries ahead of me. There is no telling what any of that holds, for either of us. Just try to take each day as it comes, and know that I'll be here, next door, in my psychedelic, over-pillowed quarters, without a shelf," Asa concluded with a grin and a wink.

 

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