Goodnight Moon

Posted on 16 Feb 2013 @ 8:39pm by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kareel Gan
Edited on on 17 Feb 2013 @ 10:38pm

1,482 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: Arboretum
Timeline: MD3 1630

ON:

"Does it talk back?"

Liyar glanced up from the large plant beside him, and found himself staring at a young Trill female wearing an engineering uniform. "Clarify," he replied while switching over the page on the PADD in front of him.

"The plant. That you're talking to. Does it talk back?" Kareel Gan toed off her shoes and pressed her feet into the grass, stretching her arms up above her head and lacing her fingers together.

"Periodically. It is not so much speech as it is a reiteration of stored information." Liyar watched her uncertainly.

Kareel stepped forward into an almost-dance step and gracefully lowered herself to the ground beside him. "I love the feel of grass. It's soothing. What are you reading?"

"At the moment, there is nothing." Liyar abruptly switched off the PADD.

"Really? Looked like something. I'm Kareel, by the way. You have very nice hair." She reached out a hand and held it out just in front of Liyar's temple. "What's your name?"

"I fail to comprehend -" Liyar moved back against the tree. With nowhere to escape, he was reminiscent of a startled cat, ears drawn back uncomfortably. "Do not touch me."

"You look sad. Compliments make people happy. And I've never seen a Vulcan with wavy hair."

Liyar did not feel happy. In the span of about a minute, this person had intruded into his space and abruptly turned off the gravity in his mind. He studied her through narrowed eyes. "I am Vulcan. I do not experience the emotional states which you have delineated -" he ducked over out of the way. "Cease attempting to touch me." He repeated it with more force.

"I think anyone who can use delineated in a sentence without putting me to sleep deserves a compliment," she said guilelessly. "You're very jumpy." She glanced at him sideways.

I am running away. / If you run away, I will run after you. / If you run after me, I will become a fish in a trout stream and I will swim away from you, Vaikreyan supplied fittingly.

"I am a touch telepath. I do not -"

"Want to get my brain all over you." The Trill smiled widely.

"That is not what I had meant." Liyar shook his head.

"It isn't?" She leaned against the tree and snatched up his PADD, turning it on.

If you become a fish in a trout stream, I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you. / If you become a fisherman, I will become a rock on the mountain, high above you.

"You wish for me to read your mind?" Liyar asked, reaching over for the PADD.

She held it high up out of reach and brushed the tips of her fingers over his forehead when he tried to grab it back. "Maybe. I mean, my mind is great, after all. What do you see?" She turned the device on and began reading. "You're reading children's books to your plant." She sounded inordinately pleased with this.

There was movement in the air, rustling leaves and soft grass, strangefingers tap-tapping against the mental grid, outside, inside. Everything was there to be seen and felt, if it is to be done, why not? Liyar blinked. There was energy and Life, not just around him, but within him. Doors opening, windows letting in the breeze. It wasn't exactly a calm, but it was a deep, powerful acceptance. " - Vaikreyan attempted to read them to me," he answered, voice dull as he tried to process.

The sky began to dim as afternoon settled into early evening, streaks of yellow-orange-red bleeding over blue, drip-dripping up through the trees. "What's there to understand? See, my brain's not that bad." She tipped her face to the holographic sky above. She could almost feel sunlight's rays. Almost. "It's still pretty, isn't it. Even though it's not real. Like a painting."

Zhial'xek, Liyar. He absently touched his own forehead in return, confused, disoriented. Why had she done that? "I do not -" understand

"Because you're nice and I wanted to. You make things very, very complicated. But I guess that's Vulcan for you."

"My plant often laments similar discourse," Liyar said, casting a glance down at Vaikreyan. Why had he said that? What else could be said?

"I sound like your plant." She'd had worse comparisons.

"Vaikreyan is fond of Terran fairy tales. Poetry. I do not understand it."

"It's like the sky," Kareel answered, leaning back against the tree and settling her shoulders against his. He wasn't calm. There was no peace there. But for some reason, it was nice. A chaotic break from the long line of comfort. One could never grow too comfortable with themselves, else they got too enamored of stagnation. "They like the sky. It isn't always nice, but they like it all the same. So they want to create it anew. Poetry does that with everything else. We like it, or we need to understand it. So we recreate it, describe the best way of being X."

If you become a fish in a trout stream, I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you. / If you become a fisherman, I will become a rock on the mountain, high above you, Vaikreyan murmured softly.

"How is it you describe being?" Liyar asked, resigning himself to this strange new world he had found himself stranded in, where everything was just out of focus, bright and new and terribly unknown.

"I don't know. I'm not very good at it. I like doing."

"Are you a telepath? I do not appreciate -"

"Nope, I've just been alive for a very long time. You learn to recognize when something strange and wonderful comes along. Even if it's all wrapped up in spikes." She smirked sidelong at him.

"I am no such thing," he responded imperiously.

"Read to me. I'm much better than a plant," the Trill insisted, tapping the PADD and resting it on his lap again. "If you become a rock on the mountain high above me, I will become a mountain climber, and I will climb to where you are," she recited, tugging on her braid unconsciously. "Devoted, isn't she?"

Liyar took the PADD and unconsciously scowled at it. "It is as I have stated. I do not comprehend this work."

"I think you do. A little. I mean, everyone does. What wouldn't you do for family? Where is the line?"

"Who is it you are?" Liyar finally blurted, crossing his arms.

She laughed. "Kareel, like I said. Kareel Gan. I'm an engineer. You still haven't told me your name. If you become a mountain climber, I will be a crocus in a hidden garden." She waved her hand in cadence with the words. "If you become a crocus in a hidden garden, I will be a gardener. And I will find you," she continued, leaning forward to read off of his knee.

Liyar's response was dry. "If you are a gardener and find me, I will be a bird and fly away from you."

"You're terribly mean, you know that? Spirits."

"I am Liyar. Diplomatic officer." He grabbed the PADD and turned it off, setting it away from her prying fingers. Touching and poking and prodding.

"A mean diplomatic officer," she corrected happily.

"Why is it you remain here, where I am so - mean - as you put it. Which I am most assuredly not."

"Maybe I like mean. Spirits knows, there's an overabundance of nice around. Change, good for the soul." Undeterred, "If you become a bird and fly away from me, I will be a tree that you come home to," she spoke the next bit from memory. Liyar inhaled and looked to the sky, as though it held some form of answer for him. It did not. "Have a carrot." She finished at last and stood. "Peace and long life, Liyar. Let's go exploring." She said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, holding out her hand.

The sky, still, remained silent. He rose reluctantly, noting her shoes abandoned to the side. "Explore what?" Why was this happening to him? Where was he going?

"The arboretum, of course. It's a big lab. Surely you can't just sit under a tree all day with so much to discover. Look, there's a display with butterflies in it. Butterflies. Come on." She began dragging him toward the display, ignoring the vaguely disconcerted expression on his face.

OFF:

Lieutenant (JG) Liyar
Diplomatic Officer, VDF/SDD
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 3rd Class Kareel Gan
Engineer, SCE
USS Galileo

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