Erein t'Meihan quietly follows along behind the chief of Medicine, wondering what had possessed her to follow him to his quarters in the first place, as he did kinda scare her. Nevertheless, he had seemed different in the holodeck....he hadn't been the half-crazy person he portrayed in the Medlab at all. He had seemed....non-threatening. As they came closer to a turbo lift, D'Tarik announces casually, "We will have to switch decks to get to my quarters....hope au don't mind the turbo lift ride."
Emni shakes her head slightly as she answers, "Na...turbolifts are alright. Why would I mind them?" a confused smile made a brief appearance.
"I really have na clue." D'Tarik shrugs as the doors to the turbo lift begin to open, letting out the other passengers. "Ok, a turbo lift ride with me..." tr'Rekkohan confirms to himself as they step inside.
At that, the girl gets the feeling that he's rather surprised that she'd get into a turbolift with him, and quickly covers a smile, "Umm...so..how would au make a creature like the one in the holodeck without the actual creature present?" she asks curiously.
"Well, I have alot of genetic codes on file. I would just use that information to kind of... clone if you will. Au see, it's all very fascinating....."the turbo lift doors close as he began to explain the whole technical aspects of the plan. When the lift stops at the deck to his quarters, and the doors once more reopen, D'Tarik is still talking. "...and that, as au can imagine, is actually quite easier to do, then it sounds." he finishes.
There wasn't a blank look on Emni's face, as is usually what happens to D'Tarik's mini-lecture listeners. Instead, the girl actually seems to understand...or at least, seems to be honestly trying to understand...what he had been going on about. "And it would be alright if au made io?" she asks quietly as they continue their walk, "It's na against the rules or anything, is it?"
"Rules...?" It seems like he never even thought about the possibility that there would ever be rules against an experiment that he wanted to perform. "Na. I don't think so.... I mean, this is after all a science vessel." he shrugs, "As long as I don't make anything dangerous...."
"Ie...." the girl pauses hesitantly, eyeing the doors to his quarters as they approach closer, wondering what kind of creatures lurked beyond the door, "And that...what did au call it?... wasn't dangerous, right?"
"Not at all.....that's just a pet really, nothing more."
Emni smiles at that, having been put more at ease, and nods in agreement, "Alright then...if au say it's okay, I suppose it is." Realizing what she had just said gave her another moment's pause. The man had tried to use her as a test-subject only that morning...what in the Elements' names had made her suddenly trust him so?
The door to D'Tarik's room opens, and he steps in. "Lights." Emni peeks cautiously in the room, sighing in relief when nothing nasty jumped out at her. D'Tarik's quarters were pretty baron...plain. The only thing of note was a small, pet bed in one corner of the room...obviously for the strange creature that was currently residing in the lab...and a tri-d chess board sitting on the desk. Emni smiles remembering the game in the holodeck, as she stands just outside the open door, politely waiting for his invitation to enter. D'Tarik takes a few steps into the room himself, before he realizes what the erien is waiting for and he turns, nodding his head in her direction, "Come on in...."
"Hann'yyo..." Emni steps into the room and throws another curious glance to the pet-bed, "Au'rh...creature....sleeps in here too?"
"Ie...but only when he has been good." He pauses to sit down on the edge of his bed, and looks up at the girl, "All those things you saw on the holodeck I have actually made before. The one au liked....I made for a girl when I was much younger."
"Oh?" Emni hides her surprise, "Was the girl ninte girlfriend?"
"Na. Well...that's what I was going for, but it kind of freaked her out."
"Ah..." she says quietly, then hesitantly offers, "Well, I don't see why...I mean, that creature in the holodeck was cute. He seemed harmless enough." she smiles as she finishes her statement.
"Well actually, to tell au the truth, I made it for my sister. She was less then happy about it."
Emni looks confused for a moment, then her eyes widen slightly, "Oh...um...I see..." she looks away from him, deciding that she was better off not knowing what he had meant by 'his goal' towards his sister.
"Oh." D'Tarik, himself thinks about what he said, and shakes his head, "That came out wrong before.....I meant, I was just trying to make good with my sister, because we never got along."
"Oh...that's too bad." She answers politely, wondering if she should sit down beside him, then notices the chair and chooses that instead, "Was she an older sister or a younger one?" she inquires as she sits down.
"I would like some music!" D'Tarik suddenly interjects, "Computer...music! D`Tarik's personnel collection: Devo."
Emni makes a face when 'Whip It' starts playing in the background, but recovers herself quickly. "I never heard that....music...before." she cast a weak smile in his direction, "What....is it?"
"Ah this is music from the late 20th century...Earth music." he explains almost proudly, "I hope au don't mind....and she was my younger sister." he finishes quietly.
t'Meihan covers an 'oh elements' kind of look at the mention of the music and goes back to the topic of his family instead; trying not to listen to the obnoxious background noise, "Well...were au ever mean to her? I mean...I have three older brothers, and *all* of them were mean." she makes another face, "I don't talk to them anymore now that I'm on my own." she declares proudly.
"Well, I don't talk to my sister either." he looks down to the floor at his feet, "She's dead."
Emni looks horrified, and bites on her lip as she casts her eyes down, "Oh...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have said that...."
"It's ok. Au didn't know." D`Tarik answered quietly, "And na... I was not mean to her...she just felt the same way about me, that au do..or did...or ummm......"
"Oh....ninte creatures made her nervous too?" Emni smiles kindly and nods, "Well...au have to admit, that thing in the lab looks a little..." she pauses, then finishes with a shrug, "Odd...to say the least."
"Well ie...he does. But he's my friend, so oh well." D`Tarik pauses a moment, searching for a way to change subjects, "So about ninte pet I'm going to make.... it should not be too hard to 'grow' it, if au will...." he suddenly remembers his manners, "Would au like a drink? Or something to eat perhaps?"
Emni smiles at the offer, "Umm...Ie...water's fine, rekkhai."
"It's D'Traik remember?"
"Ie..." she almost blushes, "D'Tarik then." tr`Rekkohan stands and crosses the room to the replicator. Getting two glasses of water, he hands her one. Emni accepts it with a quiet "Hann'yyo". D'Tarik takes a sip from his own glass, then turns towards the bed once more. Emni waits until he's seated again before she asks curiously, "How long does it take to...grow something like that creature?"
"Hmm.....not too long for something that small. No more then a month or so with the technology I have developed." he explains, "But it may have to have antenna instead of antlers....since I have an extra pair of those laying around." he smiles.
The Erien thinks about that a moment as she takes a sip of the water from her glass, "But those antenna....aren't they rather large for such a small animal?"
"Na!" the smile grew wider, "I can balance him up just fine!"
"Balance him? How?"
"Hmm...." the smile wavers, "I'm not sure....he's ninte pet." he finishes with a shrug.
Emni smiles again and softly laughs, "Well� he's na mine yet...he isn't made."
"That can easily be fixed...."
She pauses to cast him a curious look, wondering what she had found so scary about him in the first place. "Ie..." she smiles again, "hann'yyo."
"We can start work on him tomorrow when our shift starts; as long as we have no orders...which seems like we won't." he puts down the glass of water he had been holding.
"Io can never be too sure on this ship, rekk...err..D'Tarik." she smiles again, "It is a science vessel after all. Usually we're quite busy here..." she trails off as she sets her own glass down.
"Well then, we can do this on the side."
"Ie...that would be fun, actually." she pauses, suddenly feeling a little too close to the CMO, and abruptly stands to leave, "Well...I'm probably keeping au from something...I will see au tomorrow rekkhai." she crosses the room towards the door.
"Fun?! Au think doing this would be fun?!" he looks stunned. "I'm not used to that kind of reaction...." he finally notices that the girl was headed out, "Wait a second..."
"Ie...?" she pauses and turns back towards him, wondering if she did something wrong.
"Actually....never mind, I suppose." D`Tarik looks away from her.
She seems almost disappointed that he's not asking her to stay longer.
Instead of voicing that, she only nods her head and smiles again, "Ie then. See au tomorrow."
"Would au like to stay longer?" he asks just as she stepped around the corner of the door. Not sure if she heard him or not, D'Tarik looks down at the floor again.
Emni had heard him, and she paused to hide the pleased grin before she pops her head back around the open door frame, "Are au sure I'm na detaining au from more important things?"
"Na." D'Tarik looks up again, "I got nothing to do. I shut down the lab. Sprink is fed.....and I have already had my three hours of sleep."
"Au only sleep three hours? she shakes her head as she steps back into the room, "That's na good. That's sleep deprivation."
"I find I work better on less sleep." he explains, "It gives me more time to do other things anyway..."
Emni only nods, "Well...do au eat at all D'Tarik?"
"Well ie......in the lab mostly."
"Well...what about in the officer's mess...." she smiles, "with me? Would au eat there?"
D'Tarik nods, "Ie... I would enjoy that."
"So would I." she motions toward the open door.
"Ok...." he looks a little surprised at that, "Hold on....let me get out of my work clothes." He crosses to the closet, and pulls out a lab coat that looks exactly the same as the one he was wearing. Switching the lab coats, he turns around to face her again, "Ok...much better."
"Na..." Emni grins and shakes her head, not sure if he was joking, "I was thinking more...casual. Au wear that, I'm going to keep wanting to call au rekkhai." she softly laughs.
"Na lab coat?" D'Tarik shakes his head slowly, trying to process this disturbing piece of information, "I don't think I understand.....?"
The amused look on her face disappears as she suddenly understands his dilemma. Not wishing to offend, she gently asks, "Haven't au been on a date before?"
"A date....?"
"Io generally doesn't wear a lab coat on a date..."
"Na.....lab coat?" he just can't come to grips with this concept.
Emni looks at him rather hopefully, "Ie...a date."
D`Tarik only stands there silently, looking confused.
Emni bites back a fit of the giggles and shakes her head, "Never mind... leave it on if it makes au comfortable. Just don't get mad if I call au rekkhai..." she heads out the door to the mess hall. After a few more confused seconds, D`Tarik follows behind.
[ mess hall]
Emni and D`Tarik are sitting down in the officer's mess, having dinner...shrouded in an awkward silence. Emni watches D'Tarik nibbling on his food, and wonders if this was such a good idea. The man hadn't said anything but 'pass the salt' since they sat down. Sighing, she finally tries to find out what he's thinking, "Do I...."she waits until he looks up from the plate
of food in front of him, "...make au uncomfortable rekkh....I mean, D`Tarik?"
"Na....I'm just na sure what to say, for some reason." he looks back down, "Got a lot on my mind, I guess. I'm na really used.....to this."
"Oh!" she looks relieved, "Well...what's on ninte mind? Maybe I can help...I'm supposed to be ninte assistant, after all." she finishes with a weak smile.
"Na. I don't think au would want to hear about my problems. It would....probably just make things between us...umm....." he trails off, at a complete loss for the word he was searching for.
"Difficult?" Emni supplies, then immediately thinks to herself: 'It can't get much more difficult then this...'
"Well..." D`Tarik reluctantly explains, "there are reasons why ....I act like I do." he pauses, then looks away, "The recent past as na been easy for me....."
Emni takes a sip of the wine from her glass as he speaks, then asks "Au mean...the planet that au were on?"
"Ie..." he casts his eyes down once more, "I think it would be best if I forgot all about that.... maybe I could find out a bit more about au?" he asked almost hopefully.
Emni shrugs and says shyly, "Na much to tell about me. I haven't done anything exciting. I'm na that special."
"Well...that's na true." D`Tarik smiles, "I mean, au actually seemed to understand my little speech earlier......that makes ya special in my book."
She returns his smile, flattered by that. "Well...that's because we share an interest....I think." she pauses and looks away a moment, "Medicine, I mean. But...my family...." a quick shake of her head, "They wanted commanders, and warriors....na some io who was more interested in healing the injured."
"I'm sorry." he sympathizes. "My family just wanted me out of the house. But au know, even if it's not what your family wants, that does na mean au can't be the best au can be at it." he smiles.
She cast an almost sly grin, "I know....that's why I don't talk to any io in my family. But..." she shrugs again, bringing them back to his original request, "This is my first post." she pauses, and shakes her head, "I haven't done anything exciting yet. About the only thing exciting here,
has been that...well...'blob monster'...and everyone talking about the rift over the planet we picked au up on....That's it."
"Blob monster?" D`Tarik has spent most of the time on the ship in the lab, and has not talked to anyone but her and Rylan, mostly. He looked very interested in this news.
Emni, having taken another bite of food, could only nod her head and hold up a finger until she swallowed. Wiping her mouth first with a napkin, she explains, "See...I'm na sure how it got on board, or even what it was. It was only described to me as a blob with many eyes. But it ate *alot* of crew members." she shrugs.
"Hmm fascinating....." D`Tarik's brain is already turning over theories on how to figure out the genetic make-up of the thing without ever having seen it. It probably wasn't possible to re-create such a beast, but still....
"That's why we're so short handed right now." Emni continues, not having seen the glint in D`Tarik's eye that put up warning signals to those who knew him well. "Ninte friend, the taller rekkhai...?" she nods her head in a conspirator's way, "The last person to hold his post was eaten by the blob monster." she shrugs again, and picks up the wine glass, adding casually, "Along with the last chief of medicine...."
"Hmm....." he wonders out loud, "I wonder if i could make one of those, but with a lower temperament.....oh! Umm...." he suddenly realized the girl had stopped talking, "What?"
"Ah....please don't do that rekk...I mean, D'Tarik." she looks extremely worried, "That thing was dangerous! It ate half the crew...Including the last chief medical officer."
"Ah, but I bet I could give it a much lower temperament..." he begins to argue, but stops at seeing her horrified look, "But au are right...might be hard to control." he shrugs in disappointment, "Ah. Never mind." His mind, however, was still locked on the possibilities, "But that would be fascinating.....I have never really made nor studied something that was just "mass" and nothing more. Are there any remains of it?" he asks eagerly, "I would love to study something like that!"
Emni only looks confused as to why he would want it in the first place, "Uh...I'm na sure. Au could ask the Leih. He's the io who finally killed it. He should know."
"Killed it?" the note of disappointment returned, "Hmm.....if only it could of been contained and studied...but oh well." he shrugs again, "I would na want to see anyone hurt over that....but still...." he half-heartedly takes a bite of his food which has become cold by this time.
"They did try to contain it rekkhai....it got out." she explains to him, "It was dangerous as I
said...." hoping he won't try to 'recreate' the thing from sheer imagination. Cursing herself for ever bringing the subject up, she takes another sip of the wine.
"Okay then...I have had my share of nasty monsters...that I actually did na make...." he smiles, "So I understand." he paused a moment, then leaned back in his chair, more comfortable now, "It's just in my nature to wonder is all."
"Io-a that au did na make?" she asks curiously, "When was this?"
"Many things..." he begins, then stops himself, "but I don't think I'm supposed to talk about it actually." he frowns, then shrugs, "Sorry....."
"Oh...." she sounds disappointed, "Alright..." she looks away from him.
"I'm sorry this is not going so well...." he sighed, "I'm na too good...at umm socializing....."
"Na...it's all right." she shakes her head and offers a weak smile, "I just thought that....well... back in ninte room... that...au liked me....is all."
D`Tarik shakes his head, worried that he did something wrong, "Na na na... I *do* like au....I would not of come here if I did......"
Rylan voice comes over the comline, breaking in the middle of tr`Rekkohan's speech, "D`Tarik? umm...I think au better come down to the lab...."
D`Tarik gives off a frustrated sigh as he answers through the com, "Fvdat good timing Rylan...can't it wait?"
"Na..." Rylan's stern tone floated back, "I don't believe so....Sprink's done a bit of... .redecorating...."
"Be there in a second...." he hits the com, shutting it off before Rylan could say anything further. Looking at Emni with rather saddened eyes, he asks, "Why don't au come down too? Maybe we can continue this after I get this taken care of?" Emni's only reply was a shrug as she stood to follow him. The silence followed them until the pair were in a lift heading back to the medlab. Finally, D`Tarik couldn't take the silence any longer and he suddenly asked, "Did I do something wrong?" he shrugs in apology, "I really don't wish to upset au any more then I already have...."
"Na...I guess I misunderstood." Emni says shyly, "I'll remember to act more.... professional in the future, rekkhai."
"Na.....that's na it! I...." but he was interrupted as the turbo lift doors opened and another person entered the lift. Emni, knowing this was their deck glanced from the door to him again, waiting for him to step out first so she could follow. A frown crosses D`Tarik's hurt and disappointed face, before he looks to the ground by his feet, exits the lift and heads to medlab in silence.
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