Crow and Stag

Posted on Wed Dec 9th, 2020 @ 2:47pm by Lieutenant JG Miraj Derani & Lieutenant Commander S'hib

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Elysium Hangar Bay
Timeline: Post Know thyself shoreleave, MD 2
1277 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON]

Miraj loved to fly, but one of the downsides towards taking your own personal craft out anywhere was that you had to do you own personal cleaning of it after. But Miraj never shied away from it, so she pulled on a pair of silver and orange overalls and got to it. The only way the underside got clean was with a mop and bucket.

That was there S'hib found her, on her knees under the glossy black craft, squatting like a raven in a room full of doves, humming a sea shanty and scrubbing soot from the atmospheric entry of the bottom.

He remained quiet at first, simply watching as he quietly knelt down, crossing his legs and grasping his hooves in his hands.

A few moments went by as he watched her, she was so preoccupied he wondered if he got up and left if she would even notice he had been there.

"Miraj..." S'hib finally spoke, inclining his head to one side as he did so, his maneless appearance a far cry from the usual grace he once exuded.

The young pilot jumped, squealed in shock, and slammed her head against the underside of Queen Anne's Revenge so hard for a moment her world went white. "Ow!"

"Is this a bad time?" He said, somewhat holding back a laugh.

Miraj crawled out, hand pressed to the lump growing on the back of her head. "No, sir, no. Just cleaning - what did you do to your hair?"

“Please Miraj, no rank... I just want to talk, as friends.” He sighed, curving his long spine and shrinking his imposing posture. “For which I have not been very good at.” S’hib added quietly, almost sounding ashamed of the words.

She scooched over to him, shuffling on her bum until she was sitting opposite to him cross legged. "I got you in stays and robe francaise, and you didn't throw a hissy fit. I think you're doing okay."

“Yes but then I failed you,” He said quietly, bringing his hands together between his legs, cupping one hand over the other. “Because of my choices, you got hurt...” He said before sitting up straight, his stubborn pride burning at its timber supports “Its my duty to protect my herd, not just as a Starfleet Officer, but as a Patriarch... and I didn't, I ran.” He snorted, scolding himself in front of her as though his back was being whipped.

Oh. Miraj sat still for a moment, she hadn't given his actions a second thought. it was an impossible situation, and there was no more either of them could have done. "You didn't do anything wrong." She told him. "You stood your ground when you could. I left you in a heartbeat. And after that? That was Naxea! Neither of us would have forgiven ourselves if you made a different choice."

“Regardless... I’m still sorry, but I'm glad you’re ok... minus the bump on your head.” He smiled, reaching his hand up to gently move a few loose pink hairs from her face.

She gave him an encouraging smile. "You kept to the code. I'm very proud of you."

"At least someone is I suppose." He sighed while closing his eyes, resting his hands back into his lap.

Miraj wasn't sure what to say. "I'm not going to say what happened after was fun. Or what happened to Neri and Naxea. But you didn't do that. That was them. the other them. You know, from the other place, and anyone who blames the victims and not the ones from that place needs to get their attitude adjustment."

“Still... I was, reminding the crew of my other-self, thus this...” He smiled weakly, running his hand over where his mane would have been, the lack of sensation making his heart sink.

“I did it for other reasons as well, a sort of penitence for what he did...”

She hadn't met the other him, only overheard a brief exchange with other Sthilg whilst the evil Shib was...otherwise engaged. She went a little pink just thinking about it. "He did sound rather...forceful." she agreed. "But you shouldn't be punishing yourself. they're the villains, not you."

“No, I have seen the way some of the crew look at me... On my world, if a crime cannot be punished, it falls to a relative to penance for it... and in my case, myself for my mirrors actions.” He grovelled, slinking lower to the floor.

"Oh." She didn't know what to say. If she said that was silly, then she might insult him. What could she say to make him feel better. She only really knew a couple of things about his culture. "Well, if you grow it back, I'd still be willing to plait it for you."

"Well, I still have my tail... so I may take you up on your offer," He smiled, gazing off into the distance as his mind wandered off. "I'm planning on asking Naxea something rather important, I hope she says yes."

"I'm sure she will. She's your girlfriend. What are you going to ask her? Miraj asked.

"I think you call it marriage..." He replied, looking up at Miraj with a wide grin.

Her blue eyes went wide as saucers. "Oh, wow, that's amazing! Of course she'll say yes, you two are so sweet together." A thought struck her. "You know what this means dont you? Stag do!!"

“A what now?” He spluttered, tilting his head to one side with a curious eye on her sudden excitement.

"A stag do. You and your friends have one last blow out, doing all the things you cant do once you get married."

“Things I cant do?” He frowned, looking down at the polished deck between them with confusion growing on his face. “How would starting a new herd with Naxea stop me from doing things?” He asked Naively, still blissfully unaware of most humanoid customs.

"I don't know." It would be something they would have to look up. "I wasn't allowed to go on Uncle Th'ahz's. I just know when they left for Orion space, he demanded that everyone had bolt cutters and a field disrupter. And they leave any cameras or imaging devices behind."

“Ah...” Was all he said in response, trying to hide the smile growing on his lips as the meaning behind this human custom revealed itself.

"But it does sound like it could be fun. Wouldn't you want to have a big party?"

“A small party perhaps, but not a stag do... I don’t have antlers.” He remarked casually, hoping to steer her away from delving into to far into the reason why she wasn't allowed to go with her uncle.

Miraj laughed. "I'm sure we could fix that. Though would that make you a unicorn?"

“If one fell off maybe, though the ones i had at Christmas worked rather well... even if they did get caught in the tree branches a lot.”

She sighed. "Alright then, small party it is. Well. possibly. Everyone likes you S'hib. It might end up a big party"

“You have far higher expectations of me than I.” He snorted, finding her comment amusing.

"Just saying what I see." she assured him. "And nothing we might have seen recently will change that."

He looked down at the deck again, unsure what to say as he gently rubbed his legs. “Well, at any rate... big or small, you are coming wether you like it or not.” He said, snorting out a fake order.

Miraj beamed at him, "just try and keep me away."

[OFF]