These Hooves were made for walking

Posted on Thu Jun 11th, 2020 @ 9:22pm by Ensign River Lokaa & Lieutenant Commander S'hib

Mission: Season 3: Episode 4: Cause and Effect
Location: Deck 10 Corridors and Civilian promenade
Timeline: MD10
2839 words - 5.7 OF Standard Post Measure

River waited patiently outside the armory excited and nervous as ever to spend time with her best friend and comrade, Lieutenant S'hib. Since arriving on the Elysium and what she had dubbed as 'the twilight zone' the pair had spent more and more time together both in and outside of work this time was one of those 'in work' moment where they had been scheduled to patrol the labyrinth which was the corridors of the Elysium.

The turbolift opened at the end of the corridor, its doors barely audible as they parted from one another. "You ready Ensign?" S'hib called out after leaning down so that his head fit under the doorframe, his stature somehow always making him appear as if he was in a dollhouse.

"Always" She bowed her head in the now-familiar greeting to S'hib. River had also been making sure to learn not just S'hibs culture bot the inspiration from him had encouraged her to learn about others too and she was now always busy reading about the ship's crew or in the holodeck with Tour. Her accent and ability to express his language was getting much better from the first time she had attempted it.

“Come on then,” He replied as the turbolift doors attempted to close, only to be met by his disapproving hand shunting it back into the alcove.

"You know," River said stepping into the Turbo lift before him "You'll lose your hand if you keep doing that and then you'll be a three-legged horse" She teased the door closing, River didn't give any direction for the lift to travel in and instead waited for S'hib to dictate their patrol.

“Oh so i run on all fours now do I?” S’hib said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the inside of the turbolift. “Deck ten.” He added with a quick snort.

"Computer pause turbo lift," She said moving to the door and in front of his only potential exit "Ok who got your snout in a twist! Id joke right now but you don't seem yourself" River was concerned S'hib was never usually this blunt and usually had time for her humor. "Lieutenant" She added for good measure.

S'hib leaned off the wall, towering over River with a neutral expression over his long face. "Ensign..." He said softly as he leaned forward. "I'm pulling your tail..." He smiled before returning to the side of the turbolift, a stupid grin still stuck on his otherwise imposing demeanour.

River groaned as she pressed the console to resume its journey instead of verbally giving the command. "You need to work on your humor then because that sucked." She said now relieved that she hadn't done anything wrong or worst he was having problems that she couldn't help with. River had decided to give herself her personal goals and one of them was to not allow her developing feelings stop herself from enjoying the company of S'hib and especially not get in the way of work and more importantly than that be seen by anyone else. She wasn't about to fall head over heels for someone especially someone who was already spoken for. "So what are we doing today sir," She said with emphasis on the sir.

"We? that's rather presumptuous..." S'hib grinned as his long tail hairs flicked lazily against the wall behind him. "Ensign You're going on patrol... I'm simply going to watch."

As the door to the turbo lift opened she frowned mid-step into the corridor and stopped short a few meters past the threshold. "That makes no sense, you're going to watch me do a patrol" She didn't really understand why.

"Performance review Ensign..." S'hib grinned as he removed a PADD from his belt pouch and began typing. "Try not to disappoint me." he added while trying to keep his expression neutral, clearly not taking the review seriously.

River couldn't believe how rotten her luck had been, she thought she was going to spend the afternoon talking to Shib but instead she was going to have to patrol the ship alone with nothing but a Sequess shaped shadow, how boring! And secondly, she hadn't even been on board that long why was she of all people having a review, had she done something wrong? All these thoughts raced through her mind as she walked slowly through the ship checking down corridors and making sure weapons lockers, Jeffries tubes and restricted access were secure. She'd much rather be back in the holodeck or even play fighting with him in the gym again.

Some time had passed with silence between them, S'hib idly ticking checkmarks and making notes as they walked into the civilian promenade. "How have you found your duties so far since coming aboard?" S'hib asked as he continued walking lazily behind her, the sound of idle chatter and footsteps growing louder around them.

"Easy, boring even... I mean it's not like we've had to do anything." River said uninterested in his company now if he kept this up, her feelings for him wouldn't be a problem for much longer, maybe that would be a good thing. She walked over to another arms locker checked its security and locked it again.

"So you feel you haven't been challenged?" S'hib quipped as he glanced around the promenade, trying to resist the urge to window shop while doing an assessment.

"Exactly, there's only so many patrols, armoury checks and physical exercises I can do before I'm bored," She said still facing away from him as they continued down another corridor. She wondered if she took a Jeffries tube shed be able to lose him and go do something interesting

"Because you're not just here to do those things... you haven't spoken to a single person since we got here," S'hib said, waving his PADD about, getting River to look at the civilians and shops about them. "Ensign, not every shift is going to be chasing down bad guys and firing phasers... but talking to people, conversing with the crew, that's just as important."

River looked around before back to Shib, she hadn't even realised where they were. "But... Why would I talk to them? And I do converse with the crew" She objected but quickly realised that in fact unless she had to speak to anyone for a work related matter she kept herself to herself.

"Ensign, I'm not telling you off... I'm trying to give you advice." He said, pocketing the PADD before placing his hand on her shoulder. "You're taking work too seriously... try and relax, talk to people, ask them how they are and they will thank you far more than had you just arrested someone," he said before shaking his head slightly. "Come on, let's go get a coffee or something."

River didn't move, her brow was crinkled in a concentrated confusion, "I... I don't understand. I am just doing what you told me to do, a patrol and then you said I should speak to people and not take work seriously but I thought I was on a performance review and now we're going for coffee. I take my work seriously because I am proud of it and I don't speak to people because... I find it... Difficult and challenging"

"Yes, this is a review... and I need a coffee because this is clearly going to take all day," S'hib replied with a flick of his head and loud playful snorting chuckle. "Come on..." He called out, clicking his way through the crowd with his arms folded behind his back.

River followed behind S'hib as if having just been scolded by the headteacher of a school, this day was not going the way she thought it would be and she was hating every second of it. Around them people talked, shopped and laughed either at each other or at other people, she imagined them all staring at her pointing and then laughing in unison. Anxiety welled inside of her as paranoia set in.

Unaware of the maelstrom of emotion behind him S'hib studied the signs while waiting in line, even if he already knew what he was going to order. "What would you like Ensign?" S'hib asked without turning back, scratching his long neck and chin thoughtfully.

"Huh?" She asked not paying any attention and almost bumping into the large form that was her Sequees counterpart. Noticing the direction he was looking she shrugged absent-mindedly "I don't mind, water." She finally decided before going back to staring at the floor, away from any prying eyes that's may or may not be looking at her.

S'hib turned as the young woman bumped into him, concern growing on his face as she began to withdraw. "River... why don't you find us a table, I'll bring the drinks over in a minute ok?"

"Table... Sure." She said feigning a smile and turning to look for a table which after a far longer search she finally found an empty two seater. River had hoped for one bigger but looking around she couldn't see another empty one, the cafe they were in apparently busy. Sitting down she waited patiently her hands on the table as she traced the lines in her palm nervously. She had read somewhere that people believe that you can read your palm and it should tell you your future. What a load of gumph.

Some time passed before S'hib wandered back over, his hooves clicking on the tiled floor as he approached River. "Here we are." He smiled as he placed the dark wooden tray onto the table and then sat down. "I got you your water and something else." He said while removing two white mugs and a glass of water.

"If you don't like it you still have your water..." S'hib added as he began dropping small sugar cubes into the white froth of his mug.

River took the water leaving the mug of whatever it was he had ordered where he placed it and sipped. She watched her companion from over the top of her glass and wondered what was going through his mind, she imagined he didn't even know what was going on with her. Putting the water down heavily on the table some of the contents spilling.

Still placing sugar cubes into his mug S'hib glanced at the heavy handed way she placed her cup down. "What's wrong?" He half asked and half ordered.

"I don't understand what I've done wrong," She said almost immediately as if wanting to be asked, "You told me to do a patrol I did and now you said I was doing it wrong because I didn't speak to anyone and then you didn't answer my question and now we're drinking coffee in a cafe" River crossed her arms slumping somewhat in her chair. "I don't... Do well with talking to people." She added.

"I didn't say you were doing anything wrong, because you haven't done anything wrong... you have done everything, by the book..." S'hib said as he lazily stirred his drink. "And that's my point." He added before raising the mug, blowing gently into the thick creamy contents.

Rivers confusion and frustration continued her frown growing more prominent, "So what then... Sir." She said dragging out the 'sir', maybe she was being hard on him because of her unchecked emotional state but then she also didn't care because it was after all his fault, and when he seemed to be so relaxed and nonchalant it annoyed her even more.

"You're hiding your weaknesses with your strengths, so I'd like you to start challenging yourself... then maybe you won't be so bored." S'hib said before taking a sip, wriggling his upper lip at the hot contents. "Hm, still too hot." He muttered to himself."

"Try adding milk," River said absent-mindedly finding it hard to stay upset at him, curse her stupid emotion. "Well, tell me how then. I just don't find people... normal people interesting anyway, I don't like people" She added, she found it so difficult to make friends because of the way she was which is why meeting people like S'hib and Sandtail. "And I don't even really like the whole security thing, my desire is to be a tactical officer."

"It is milk." S'hib smiled, pointing at the other mug. "Its caramelised, but I like mine a little sweater." He said while gently placing his down. "But going back to everything else... I think it's important to push people out of their comfort zones, it's not only to help you but the department as a whole... you're not a people person, I get that... and it needs addressing." S'hib said softly before moving his mane out of his face and over his shoulders. "But Id like you to try my way first, I'd like you to engage with people... like you have done with me, as you clearly have a fascination of other cultures.

"But you're different, you're like me, you're an outcast." She said desperately not meaning for it to sound so terrible her anxiety sparking again if she was a Sequees her nostrils would be flaring. This was going to be a slow and painful death, she should have just accepted armoury duty or something which didn't require so much talking and didn't require S'hib, she hated him for making her do this and hated him more for making her the way she felt. She silently agreed with herself that tonight was going to be a lay in bed with ice cream night.

"How do you know there aren't other like yourself if you don't talk to any of them... Had I looked more, like everyone else... would you have been interested in my culture? or would I be another boring Lieutenant you had to put up with?" He finished, reaching back down for his mug.

"That's not the reason!" She snapped before explaining herself further, "I don't dislike or find people boring I hate how I make people feel. They find me rude, obnoxious, vain and I know I'm those things! If they don't hate me because of that it's because of the way I look or the way I dress or the fact if I wanted to I could take their males from them with a single touch of a tear. That's why I don't speak to people Lieutenant." If she didn't have so much respect and care for S'hib shed have left there and then, that and he might still be reviewing her.

"Ok, so you make a few people uncomfortable for the way you are... that's fine, that's who you are and you shouldn't have to apologise for it... but the only time I've seen anyone stare at you, today... was just now when you raised your voice." He said leaning on his elbows and sipping his drink. "People don't know you, but sure... first time they meet you, they might think you are all those things you just said... but I know those aren't true, and so will they once they get to know you."

River could feel the first sensation of a tear coming, which meant she had one of two options cry and try and not contaminate anything or anyone or get back to her quarters where she was safe. Blinking several times to try and force it away didn't work. “You won't fix something I've had to deal with my entire Starfleet career" She sniffed the first signs of moisture already glistening like a diamond, she hid her face. River had no idea what effect it would have on Shib but most humanoid males couldn't resist touching her tears and then after that... Who knows she didn't want to find out. "Can I be excused, I need to sort myself out." she asked half pleading.

"Of course... " S'hib said with a frown, thinking that perhaps he had pushed her a little too hard.

River stood, "Thank you, sir, I'll... meet you again once I've sorted myself out." She said not really giving him anything more to say before leaving. She kept her head down and avoided wiping away her tears as she moved quickly through the crowd and trying heavily not to knock into anyone as she left.

S'hib sat there in silence for a moment as River left, unsure how to proceed until something caught his eye on her side of the table, glistening on the surface.

A small droplet of water that seemed to tunnel his vision to a pinpoint, then in the blink of an eye his hand shot out, knocking his mug off the table as he gripped hold of an outstretched arm reaching for the glistening jewel. "Don't move..." S'hib snorted sternly to the young waiter, snatching up a paper towel with his free hand and wiping away the tear in one clean stroke.

OFF:

Ens. River Lokaa
Tactical Officer
USS Elysium

Lieutenant S'hib
Security Officer
USS Elysium