Teaching By Doing

Posted on 26 Mar 2013 @ 4:52pm by Anera
Edited on on 26 Mar 2013 @ 6:27pm

3,354 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 2, Maenad's Quarters
Timeline: MD05: 1230 hrs

[ON]

Upon leaving Liyar, Anera had felt a gentle but insistent tug. Her lashes fluttered as she followed that intuiting empathic cord like a scent. Reaching the shuttlebay, her gaze landed on the Terran lieutenant. So. Here was the one who'd most recently made a mess of the touchstone. Poor girl probably didn't even know it. "Hello!" she greeted Maenad, crossing to her, and bowing over lotus folded hands. "It's so nice to see you!"

Maenad walked out of the shuttlecraft, making sure that all of the proper scientific equipment had been brought aboard. Piles of boxes, crates, bags, and pressurised containers for elemental and atmospheric sampling had to be brought with them, as well as proper analytical instruments, and Maenad wanted to make sure that they weren't missing anything. Satisfied and now entirely ready for the twelve hour mission ahead, Maenad exited the craft into the shuttlebay while fingering her PADD. It was linked to the department's objective list, and she was compiling a timetable for the sample analyses that would have to be done the next day - but a strange woman interrupted her.

A rather short woman in brightly coloured robes intercepted her. Maenad narrowed her eyes, puzzled. She had never seen this person before, but she was enthralled with the clothing that wrapped everything but her face. She couldn't even guess at what the woman's hair colour was it was wrapped so perfectly. "Thank you..." Maenad half-smiled, first showing her teeth, then hiding them as she tried to figure out who this was. Strangers didn't usually approach people in this way. She smiled again, quizzically blinking, and raised a finger to scratch her temple. Her uniform sleeves were rolled to her elbows, revealing soft skin as white as snow. "I'm sorry," said Maenad, "Have we met?"

Anera laughed, shaking her head. "No, never. I'm Anera."

"I'm Maenad," she smiled. Anera had such a lovely laugh, she thought. And her robes were absolutely gorgeous. She carefully reached out to rub the fabric between her thumb and two fingers. "This is beautiful," she said honestly, her words slow and weighted. "What is it?"

"Chateragna," Anera beamed, pleased. "It's made by aquari signets on my home island on Delta. Look - it seems opaque, doesn't it? Until..." She lifted a swatch up against the light and it was a shimmering transparency. "That's why it needs so many layers." She chuckled, "Here, at least. Your hair is beautiful. May I touch it?"

Maenad blushed a little. "Sure," she said quietly, still confused. "Thank you," she smiled, ducking her head so Anera could reach more easily.

"It's so smooth. And soft. Do you use anything particular?"

"Just shampoo and conditioner," she said with a shrug. "It gets frizzy if I don't look after it," explained Maenad.

Anera rubbed her fingers through it a moment longer, then let her hand fall. "It's very pleasant. You're fortunate. And such elegant bone-structure. Do you drink tea? Shall we have some?"

Without realising, Maenad touched the corner of her cheek and traced her finger until near her chin. "I do," she said after a hesitant few seconds, replacing her hand by her side. "And I would be delighted. I apologise, but do you know me? Is there something I can do for you?" She was still none the wiser on who Anera was or what interest she had in her.

"I don't. I'd like to. You smell like Liyar. Shall we sit somewhere and talk?"

Maenad silently gasped. She closed her eyes to collect her thoughts, to verify what she'd just heard. She smelled like Liyar? The Vulcan had a pleasant smell, she had always thought, so it wasn't exactly a compliment. Maenad had always thought that she'd smelled like herself. She'd been complimented by many people many times about her own scent, which she rarely enhanced with perfume. Maenad pressed her lips and clenched her jaw, her cheeks protruding for a second, and she eyed Anera by titling her head. "Excuse me?"

"Your aura," Anera explained. "Or rather - he smells like you. I say smells. It's more a feeling. But I've always experienced it as smells and tastes. My mother did as well."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm an empath," the Deltan grinned. "You needn't take offense. You smell lovely; it's just the aura overpowers it since I was just sitting with him."

Maenad looked away, to the floor. "You were?" she asked, unable to hide a taste of sadness. She was trying not to think about what she'd done to Liyar, starting again to walk in the direction of the doors.

"Yes, indeed." She looked up at Maenad, following along with her. Sad. "You care for him." It wasn't a question. It was obvious - a scent all on its own, wrapped around the woman. "Why does that make you sad?"

"I did a stupid thing," she muttered just as they the heavy-set magnetic doors unlocked and parted. Maenad went out into the corridor with Anera following by her side and pressed the button to call the turbolift. Nervously, she tapped the PADD against her left thigh.

"Oh?"

Maenad turned to look at her from the side. Her face was sullen, and the doors opened to the lift. Maenad led the way inside. "Deck two," she said. The lift started. "Listen," she said, starting to sound impatient. She was still unconsciously tapping the PADD on her leg, too. "Liyar is a very special friend and I, well, did something that I shouldn't have." She grated her bottom teeth against her upper lip.

"What's that?"

She blinked several times before finally opening her mouth, but she stopped herself from speaking. "What did he tell you?" she asked finally.

Anera shook her head. "What would you like to tell me. It's not my place to say what he has and has not shared. Just as it's not my place to share anything you say to me. But you are both hurting. I would like to help."

Maenad didn't like that response. She had no idea who this woman was and she felt perfectly comfortable intruding on very personal problems. She found it hard to imagine that if Anera had spoken to Liyar and concluded that he was 'hurting', then she had to have known that she had stupidly kissed him. She couldn't have imagined him blabbing off to a stranger about it, though; Liyar would never tell anyone. Or did he?

The lift stopped and Maenad led the way into the corridor. Her quarters weren't far down the hall. "Would you like to come in?" she asked out of politeness.

Anera bobbed her head. "If you'd like." She smiled. "It's perfectly all right if you don't want to talk about it. I am well aware that you're Terran and you're on the outside of the whole empathic thing. But he isn't, you see? He hears you. In any case, I wanted to introduce myself and let you know that I'm perfectly happy to listen if you need to talk."

Telepathic or not, Maenad sensed that Anera was filled only with the best intentions. She smiled appreciatively and went inside, allowing Anera to follow. "Sit wherever you like," she said, as she slipped off her shoes and went to the replicator to replicate some tea, a cup of Earl Grey for herself. "What would you like?"

"Selta blossom tea, thank you." Anera nudged off her sandals, dropped onto the sofa, and drew her legs up into a lotus; the fabric of her robes and skirts spilling around and down over the lip of the sofa with only her toes peeking up through the cloth. "Your quarters reflect you. I'm glad. You have a strong sense of self."

Maenad replicated Anera's tea and joined her by the couch. How did Anera know about her? How did she know how Maenad reflected? "Here you go," she passed Anera her cup and sat down in the detached chair beside her, at a right angle to the couch, with her legs crossed. She sipped at her tea once before cradling it in her lap. "I kissed him," she said shortly. "And he didn't know how to react. And neither did I. I don't think he understands what a kiss means to a human; I don't think he fully gets the implications of one." She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. "It was a stupid thing for me to do."

"Why stupid?"

"Because he's my friend!" she exclaimed, like it was a no-brainer, like she was idiot for asking.

"You'd prefer to kiss people who were not your friends?" Anera asked curiously.

"That's not what I said," Maenad sighed. "It was not just a kiss on the cheek. We played Velocity. I won by a wide margin. After the game, I could tell he was not very happy with himself for losing. I went up to him to talking to him. I noticed his hair was messed up, so I was fixing it for him, and he touched my wrist, and I..." she set her cup down on the coffee table. "I don't know why, but I just kissed him on the lips. I held it for several seconds, I traced my fingers along his cheek and jaw. It was romantic. It was not right. I was not myself, and it was not fair."

Anera cupped the tea in her palms and studied the woman across from her. "You judge yourself a great deal," she murmured. "A kiss is a means of showing how deeply you care for someone. How is that unfair?"

Maenad shook her head and her eyes were nearly squinting. "How can you...?" she stopped herself with a sigh; Anera was a Deltan - to her a kiss meant nothing. "No," Maenad pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment. "No, I should not have done that. I do care for Liyar; he is very good to me, but I was acting out of, well..." How could she confide in a total stranger? She couldn't. She couldn't tell Anera that she, in that moment, felt loved by someone she admired. She couldn't say that Liyar showed her affection because that wouldn't be true. Liyar was Vulcan. He had no affection. He had no love. What she perceived as him caring was just logic. It was her own emptiness that had created the illusion of an emotional bond between them, and her want for companionship, that prompted her to do what she did. "I have some personal problems of my own," she said quietly, "And they have clouded my judgement. I saw things where there was nothing to see. If Liyar were human, our friendship would have ended right there."

Slowly, as Maenad spoke, Anera's brow drifted upwards. Such a strange reaction to something as simple as a kiss. Little wonder Liyar had been thrown for a loop; anxiety and affection were poor bedfellows. "I've had quite a bit of experience with Terrans... I can't recall any friendships ending over a kiss. This is something you've experienced?"

Maenad laughed very softly. "When a friend kisses a friend, Anera, it causes problems. Liyar probably thinks that I am attracted to him now, that I want to be with him. Maybe not yet, but whenever he finds out, and he will, he will think that I... that I like him." Maenad shook her head and plucked at her lip for a moment, suddenly looking very focused. "I don't want to lose him. He said that he wouldn't, but that was before he knew what had happened. He will regret it more than I." Then, her eyebrows went up as she came to a realisation, her plucking finger pointing up at the ceiling. "Logic will force him to avoid me, because he will conclude that I am trying to pursue him. He will then understand that I thought he was being affectionate when he was only trying to help me for my own benefit: the training exercises, the friendship, the meals, our conversations. He is a telepath, Anera; he knows that I am a sad person. He knows that being depressed is unhealthy, and so he used himself, his presence, as a kind of medicine for me. He will think that his medicine has produced the incorrect result and will discontinue." She sighed, convinced of her sudden revelation. "All because of one stupid kiss that I didn't meant to do."

She had a very tangled perspective on telepathy, Anera mused. To think that he knew she was 'sad', but none of the other thoughts or feelings that were racing around and through her. And though the answer was clear enough, even in the broiling anxiety around the woman, she asked, "Are you? Attracted to him?"

Maenad let out a very long breath through her nostrils. She uncrossed her legs and sat back in the chair, leaving her hands in her lap. It looked like she'd sprung a leak and was slowly losing air as she sunk deeper into the cushions. Was she attracted to Liyar? Had she ever thought about it before? Her face revealed none of her thoughts. She stared blankly, but also very intensely, at her teacup on the table. Sure she was attracted to Liyar, but she was also attracted to Anera. And Lilou, Athlen, Lirha, even Petrov had his charm. Lots of people were beautiful. She would even sleep with all of them if she could, but none of that meant anything. Her outward appearance wasn't very telling of the carnal thoughts that plagued her mind. But knowing and accepting this hardly meant that she was in love with any of them. "Sure I am," Maenad turned her palms upwards as she brought her knees together. "Who wouldn't be?"

"So you're attracted to him. You care about him. You want him to be a part of your life. None of these feelings are things you should chastise yourself over." Anera rested her hand on Maenad's shoulder. "Why are you so convinced he would push you away for feeling this way?"

"No," Maenad sighed, "that's not what I'm saying at all." She clenched her jaw before speaking again. "I'm saying that I don't want him to think that I'm after him, that I want more. That's what a kiss implies, and he will learn that soon enough, and then things will be different."

"And you don't want more?" Anera asked quietly.

Maenad raised her eyebrows, surprised to hear the question. "No," she said quickly. "No, he's my friend. This is why I'm so upset."

"If you're sure you don't want more, then you should tell him so and avoid whatever misunderstanding you think might have arisen," the Deltan offered pragmatically. "But, I should tell you, love, I don't think you're giving him the credit he deserves. Liyar knows his own mind. And he's empathic in addition to being a telepath, and a touchstone; he may not understand everything about you, but he sees how you feel and what you think. He's not a child, that one. And if you care for him and trust him as I feel you do, the least you can do is have faith he'll see what you meant." She paused. "Unless what you meant then has changed."

"I didn't say he was a child," Maenad quickly corrected her. She was starting to get annoyed - she was there, Anera was not. Maenad knew exactly what she meant. And the fact that Anera was empathic wasn't helping, either; it wasn't fair.

"I didn't say that you did," Anera smiled.

"So," Maenad said abruptly, "how long have you been aboard? What do you do? I think I would have recognised seeing you."

So much fuss over so little. Anera folded her hands in her lap. "I teach. Or rather, I find the mechanisms by which individuals learn best and facilitate the accruement of new skills and knowledge for them. I was on the USS Venture, but Captain Saalm requested I join the Galileo to assist the youths on board. They're lovely; the two that I've met thus far." She looked at Maenad with a small glint in her eye. "Did I seem suitably distracted by the change of subject just then? I was trying."

Maenad couldn't help but smile. "I'm sorry I'm so difficult," she muttered truthfully, and even a little regretfully.

The Deltan shook her head, "You need to stop being sorry. You are who you are. You feel what you feel. No shame in that."

She fiddled with her fingers, feeling uncomfortable. Maenad felt exposed and wholly disadvantaged; Anera read her like a book, and there was nothing that she could do about it. She was asking questions that she seemed to already know the answers to, and every answer that Maenad gave she found herself second-guessing. It wasn't like Maenad to be unsure of her own thoughts, but with Anera in the room she wasn't sure she knew anything at all. She couldn't stop thinking about Liyar, and the question Anera had asked: And do you want more? She had said no, but had she meant it?

"What kind of subjects do you teach?" Maenad looked up from her hands. The cuticle on her thumb was bleeding. "You're very young."

"Yes, I am young in the scheme of things," Anera agreed. "I'm an education facilitator. For the last several years, I've been teaching all ages - core maths and sciences, Federation history, how to solve problems, how to find answers for themselves, how they learn best, tolerance, species studies, social studies, art, higher education counseling..." she trailed off, grinning. "It's rewarding work."

"Yes, I can imagine," Maenad nodded back to her. She reached for her tea and found that that it had substantially cooled, and she preferred it hot.

"The best part is helping others find their true potential," Anera added, watching Maenad take her tea. "See how I'm still not distracted?"

When Maenad brought the cup away from her lips she held Anera's eyes for a second. "What more do you want me to say about it?" she complained.

Anera watched her with a small smile. It was enough, for now. "Didn't you have a mission you were supposed to be leading?"

"Yes, I should be going."

Anera smiled, "I'll owe you another tea." Gently, she took the cup from Maenad's hands and set it on the table, drawing the other woman to her feet. "The offer stands, if you ever feel the need to talk. Sometimes hearing things aloud allows you to understand them better."

Anera was strange, Maenad thought. She was too comfortable; taking her tea, talking about love, pulling her up - all like she was her best friend. "Thank you," said Maenad awkwardly. "I might like that," she confessed. "I would like to try on those robes like yours some time as well - they're beautiful."

"You are welcome to, whenever you like," the Deltan beamed, and kissed Maenad's lips lightly. "Friends, then." She bowed over her hands deeply.

Maenad stepped back, almost falling back into the chair she'd been sitting in. That was the last thing she expected. "Hey," she held up a hand. "What...?" her cheeks reddened. "What was that?"

"Teaching by doing," Anera asserted with a cheerful crinkling of her eyes. "And you looked like you needed a pick me up."

"Just, uh, make sure you turn off the lights when you leave," Maenad said, looking at the smaller woman skeptically. "I have to go." She looked at her with a bizarre frown for a moment longer, smiled, then left Anera in her in quarters.

"See you later!" Anera called, then gathered the tea cups to bring them to the reclamator.

[OFF]

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Anera
Teacher
USS Galileo
(pNPC Lilou Peers)

RSS Feed