Somethings just don't translate

Posted on Tue Jul 12th, 2022 @ 12:10am by High Priestess An'Dalus & Sovereign T'handu & Lieutenant JG Miraj Derani

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Earth
Timeline: After arrival at Spacedock
3518 words - 7 OF Standard Post Measure

With Elysium docked and attached to her umbilical, Miraj was free to take some personal time. She was going to kill two birds with one stone. Go flying, and figure out what to do about S'hibs stag do. She made a quick stop in her quarters for a shower and to change into civvies, then headed up to find the male she wanted to talk to.

Arriving at the Sequus Ambassadors' door, she rang the bell.

Inside T’handu’s ears shot up at the sound of the chime, having not expected anyone to visit the Ambassador today.

“Well, go see who it is…” Anne remarked lazily as she removed her hooves away from his hands.

“Oh right, yes… of course” He said while stumbling over his words, hastily placing aside the file and brush in his hands and thumped hurriedly to the door, making sure to grab the cloth hanging on the stand to its side.

“Ah, Miraj… The Priestess wasn’t expecting your visit, she's a bit busy at the moment though I’m afraid.” He said, still fumbling with the wrap at his waist

Miraj was prepared for this, her face already tilted up, eyes on the top of the lintel so she wouldn't have to see anything. "Actually I was hoping to borrow you."

“Me?” He blurted out in genuine shock, almost losing the wrap in the confusion. “Um…” he continued, opening and closing his lips in rapid succession to form at least one cohesive word.

Genuine confusion overtook the young Sequus as his brain failed to find a procedure or well-rehearsed speech to fall back on. “Uh… are you sure?” He asked.

"Yes," Miraj said firmly. "It has to be you. It's about... boy things," she whispered. "So will you come flying with me? I can show the Steppes, or if Earth isn't your thing, we can go play in the rings of Saturn. It's noisy but fun."

"Boy things?" He thought out loud before focusing his attention back on Miraj. "Uh, um... o-one, one moment, please." He stuttered as he awkwardly turned and rushed back to the High Priestess.

"Mistress... Ensign Miraj is here," He spoke, his voice changing back to a well-rehearsed formality as he stopped and bowed. "But she's here to see me."

Her nonchalant and dismissive features suddenly changed as he finished, contorting into a sharp gaze as her eyes bore into his. "Is that so..." she hissed, briefly gazing over at the door.

"Yes, Mistress... may I leave with her?" He asked with excitement slipping through the formalities.

"Very well..." Anne replied with a shake of her head. "Just make sure you behave, T'handu..." She added with a playful warning.

"Thank you, Mistress." He bowed before turning and rushing back towards the door with a smile.

"Um, Yes... I can go with you." T'han beamed, his entire demeanour changing entirely as he looked down at Miraj.

"Huzzah!" she beamed back. "So did you fancy the Mongolian Steppe or the Rings of Saturn?" She was already turning, confident he would follow her lead. "I have no preference, I just need to get behind a stick before I go mad."

"Either is fine," He said cordially, used to practically every decision in his life being dictated by others, especially women. "I haven't exactly been anywhere but my home... and well, this ship... but that doesn't really count I don't think."

She took him down to the main shuttle bay, prattling on happily about how ships made better homes than planets and pointed to a sleek black vessel sitting amid a crowd of white Starfleet Shuttles. "That's my baby. Queen Anne's Revenge! Isn't she sexy?"

"What did she get revenge for?" He asked naively, just happy to be here.

"No-one really knows. Most people think it's something to do with an old war. Queen Anne was the ruler of a country on Earth about six hundred years ago."

He nodded in response, looking back at the sleek vessel with a different perspective. "I see... much of our old history is lost to us too, probably buried under the sands."

She opened the small ship up, stroking the surfaces with love as she settled into the con, which did indeed have a control stick, rather than the more typical control panel.

With a few buttons touched, she pulled up on it gently, and the shuttle rose up, and she commed the ATC. "This is the SS Queen Anne's Revenge, who's in the tower this afternoon?"

"Afternoon, Derani," came the reply. "This is Jorgi. What can I do for you today?"

"Hi Jorgi, How are the kids?"

"They're fine," came the suspicious response. "What are you angling for?"

"Requesting clearance for hot cast off, and hi speed reentry on the Tunguska vector."

"Don't want much, do you kid?" Came the reply

"Showing off for visiting diplomats." She grinned at T'handu, getting an awkward grin in return as he settled into his seat, trying to ignore the lack of leg room.

"Well, Stack is clear and doors are open." There was another pause. "Alright, you're cleared with Earth ATC as well. Don't say I don't love you. Standby for signal."

"You're the best Jorgi. Standing by." Miraj turned to T'han and mouthed, Hold on

"Hot exit in three, two, one, mark" came Jorgi's voice.

Miraj gunned the engine, shooting out of the Elysium Hangar Bay and streaking across Space Dock in a flash, and then dropping fast into Earth's Atmosphere, jumping in just shy of the pole, cutting off the artificial gravity, and veering a sharp right, plummeting down in a spin that sent the horizon rolling around them

T'han said nothing at first, his eyes just remained glued on the blurring horizon as he gripped the armrests, his thick knuckles flexing tightly until the seat began to creak.

A couple more lazy barrel roles, g-forces pulling him this way and that, and they levelled out, Miraj switching to full aeronautics. She dropped another ten or twenty thousand feet, and T'handu could see a huge trackless forest, lush and verdant. "Sooooo." She started. "I want to ask about some stuff. About what happens when your people decide to... uh... start a herd of their own."

He turned his head at this, the surprise line of questioning managing to pull his terrified eyes away from the view outside the ship. "I uh... I assumed humanoid courtship would be similar, no?" He frowned, thankful for the distraction but only just.

She dropped another ten thousand feet in a long banking loop that took them over more forest, with light from a body of water sparkling on the horizon. From this height, T'han could see narrow gaps ribboning through the forest, indicating the paths of rivers, and the rise and fall of the land as they passed peaks and valleys heading south.

"Possibly, thats what I wanted to check." Miraj wasn't sure it was anything alike. "Like, when the boy leaves his, uh, herd he was born in, what does that herd do? Is there a big party? Special food? Music?"

Red sands, T'han thought as he stared at Miraj. "You really don't know anything about Sequella, do you." He quipped, having completely forgotten about the terrifying speed and motion happening outside.

"Well, no. that's why I'm asking."

His ear flicked in irritation, more so at the full circle his question had caused, leaving him stuck with the original she had asked. "Ok, well for starters, I'm a servant to the Mortuary cult, It's different for Stals like myself... as a Royal Sovereign I am free to pursue and breed with anyone but my own Priestess, we are often borrowed for such purposes." He replied calmly, unphased by the topic as his eyes flicked between her and the view.

"But I assume you are referring to the wider population of Sequella... And I guess, Commander S'hib, no?"

Miraj's brain had stalled at the word 'borrowed', beginning to wish she hadn't asked. "Er, yes, I mean S'hib." she said in a rush, steadfastly keeping her eyes on her instruments and the horizon. anything but at the man across from her.

"I see..." T'han nodded before jolting his attention back to the blurring view outside, reminding him viscerally of his whereabouts. "Uh, well... I can't speak for Commander S'hib as I know he has lived a very different life to most Sequus... He is for want of a better word, not like us." He tried his best not to sound rude, wincing at his own words as he said them regardless.

"You see, my people are quite different when it comes to things like love, your kind of love anyway." He continued, starting to enjoy the view now they weren't spinning. "We extend that love to many within our lives, share it with them... it is not something we guard or hide... so it must have been incredibly difficult for him." He finished, finally putting two and two together. "Not being able to express any of it intimately."

Miraj thought about being...intimate... with S'hib. It provoked the same sort of feelings her brother did when she wondered what on earth people saw in him: I love you, but eww. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "So... I uh... I guess maybe you could go back to basics.
Like, do people move herds? Or is it fixed forever?"

"No, no." T'han smiled while gently shaking his head. "Nothing is fixed... we do have Regional herds, but that's more of a fuzzy... I'm from this part of Sequella, than anything else, though you could argue all of Sequella is one big herd, not that that really helps you understand..."

He paused for a moment, suddenly aware he'd never had to explain something that was simply known by all.

"But, um... well, every city or major settlement is a herd, the capital technically has two, the mortuary cult and by extension the royal palace as well as the wider reaches of Ba'fan... which has roughly two hundred thousand living there."

"Obviously not everyone would know one another," He continued, his eyes snapping to features on the surface with excitement. "not like a family unit, or a family herd... which would be a few dozen to a hundred individuals... mostly friends and direct relatives, secondary mothers and such."

"But if you're all one herd? How do you..." Miraj could feel the burn come up as she inched towards the subject like it was a crumbling cliff. "Isn't that like..." Davey Jones's hairy sack, how could she say this. "Doesn't it cause problems? for babies?"

"Our population is mostly women... Stals like myself are outnumbered roughly five to one... so no, we're close with our direct relatives, but not that close." He chuckled, finally loosening his grip on the armrests. "But this is also why the Mortuary cult exists... the Priestesses, they aren't just there to look after our dead, they also guide the living... this includes the sexual health of our people."

He paused for a moment, feeling brave enough to lean forward and peer out of the viewscreen. Below the trees were closer, and they were coming up a long lake that stretched out beyond the horizon.

"Stals get paired with suitable mares frequently, it's what we are for." He said with an odd sense of pride in his voice. "And if we're lucky we become highly sort after mates... seeding a new generation is quite an honour." He beamed as he stood up slightly, his ears folding back as they touched the cockpit roof, his eyes glued on the expanse of an alien world.

Miraj turned all his words over. And her jaw slowly fell open with increasing horror. "Shiver me timbers," She muttered. "You get told who to...?"

"Mhm." He replied, unaware of how Miraj was taking this information as he pushed his face against the transparent aluminium. "Though not exclusively, we are free to pursue others at our leisure."

"But...but... what if you don't like someone you're told to...?"

"I don't have to date them, Miraj, just gotta get them pregnant." He replied in a matter-of-fact tone, not understanding why she would object to such things.

Miraj's face was warring between pink of sheer embarrassment and the green of rising horror. "What if they don't like you?" She squeaked out before she could stop herself

"Well uh, I don't think I've ever been summoned to visit a Priestess that didn't want me in her bed-chamber."

There was silence as they dipped down to fly low over Lake Baikal, Miraj trying to imagine if S'hib had ever been...summoned. "Would you.. would you get in trouble if you refused to..." she asked at last, a morbid fascination compelling her now.

“Refusing such a request… It would be like a Klingon refusing to go to battle,” He said proudly before sitting back down, finding the sudden drop in altitude a little much. “It’s not like we don't have a choice… but it wouldn’t matter anyway, Priestesses can get quite territorial over their favoured mates… you tend to do a better job when you’re enjoying it too.” He smiled, looking down at his lap as the blood rushed to his ears from a few distinct memories. “Then they keep calling for you specifically and others know not to.”

Shiver me timbers! "Do you want a drink? I need a drink." Miraj flipped the controls to autopilot with unseemly haste, moved back into the small lounge area of the waverider and ordered herself a chocolate milkshake. She wanted rum, but she'd go to hell before she drank actual alcohol whilst flying. More importantly, she needed to not look at the Sequus right now. She might explode if she did. No wonder S'hib was so cagey about ... stuff.

“Uh, sure…” T’han said as he watched Miraj vanish into the rear of the ship, spinning gently in his seat before getting up himself and following.

“What do you have?” He said softly, suddenly behind her dainty form while hunched over, his tall frame buckling over in the confines of her ship

"Aggh" Miraj shrieked, throwing herself backwards on instinct, which only ran her back firmly against T'han's body. His large body, part of her mind pointed out cheerfully, his large and very firm and muscular body, that's wearing little more than a thin towel...

"nnggh" she squealed again, and jumped forward, spinning round to press herself back against the replicator, trying to put more distance between them, bringing her eye line firmly in line with some musculature that was far too developed and far too naked and far too close for comfort. She shut her eyes. "Everything. Anything, Whatever you want."

“Then, could I trouble you for a fruit juice? something sweet… please.” He smiled politely before bowing his head, painfully unaware of the turmoil within Miraj he was causing.

Miraj grabbed her milkshake, and slide away trying to hide her relieved sigh. "Applejuice, sweet, unfiltered, cold. Large." she asked the replicator, her voice half an octave higher than usual. It obliged her without comment, producing a litre of cloudy juice in a large mug. "help yourself." She waved at the slot before taking a slurp of her milkshake, attempting to cover up the embarrassment written all over her face.

"Thank you, I'm not used to these machines..." He confessed as he gently clicked over, cupping the mug in both hands. "I still prepare food and drink for Mistress An'Dalus by hand." He added before sipping slowly, licking his lips and staring down at the contents with great curiosity.

"This is Apple, no?" T'han exclaimed excitedly, turning and almost hitting his head on the ceiling. "I think Commander S'hib made us try it before."

"yes. It's my favourite." Miraj slipped back to the helm, and continued to study her milkshake, not taking the ship off autopilot. She needed to change the subject. or get back to what she had hoped was the original subject and not the fact that Sequus males were apparently handed round like candy!!??!! She had to resist the urge to press her glass to her head to relieve the burning in her ears.

"Soooo, anyway, When people get married here, the friends of the bride and groom through parties for them, usually something a bit wild, to celebrate their last time being single. I wanted to do something for S'hib, but I don't know what your people do. He won't tell me."

He paused for a moment, taking another sip from his drink as he slowly clicked down the narrowing hull towards the cockpit. "Well..." He started, letting out a sigh, unsure how to proceed without disappointing her.

"What Commander S'hib is doing, dating the Colonel exclusively... that's unheard of, for my people anyway..." T'han continued as he gently sat down, mindful to pull the cloth around his waist taught so it would drape between his legs.

"The closest thing we have to a last time would be a Var'doon, it's a coming of age ceremony between a Stal and the first mare he's made pregnant." He explained, resting his drink between his legs, cupping fondly.

"Mares have them too, for their first child... though it's slightly different. Until then neither is really considered an adult.

Miraj's mouth opened and closed a few times. "Yeah." She said at last. "I get why he wouldn't have said anything now. That would not have worked."

"No, probably not..." He replied, pausing briefly to sip from his drink. "It tends to involve a lot of fermented fruit, and um... usually a very drunk re-creation." T'han sighed while squinting in embarrassment, glad it was only a one-time event as he raised the cup to his lips again.

Miraj choked on her milkshake, her brain supplying images of S'hib, fuzzy on the details admittedly but still more than she wanted to think about. "Shiver me timber! Agh. No. Can't do that." She sighed deeply. No wonder he hadn't wanted a party, if he was expecting to do that in front of his colleagues.

"For most humans getting married is a big deal. The Stag Do is to. But I guess it just doesn't translate."

T'han shrugged lightly as he tilted his head, understanding what she was saying but not fully agreeing. "It's a big deal for him too I imagine, more than you think it is I mean... alienating everything he's ever known, can't be easy even if he is happy."

"I know." Miraj put a hand back on the con, and turned the ship slightly, and soon they were skimming over an endless sea of green grass. "I just want to make it easier for him."

T'han nodded thoughtfully in silence, somewhat distracted by the sea of green, a sight that was truly alien to him. "I won't claim to know him, I've barely met the Stal though he has been very welcoming in helping myself and the High Priestess adapt to your ways... but if he is anything like my Priestess says he his, he'd want you to not make a fuss."

"I know. But that feels a lot like saying we don't care. And we do."

T'han was quiet for a moment before turning in his seat to face Miraj, his hand reaching out, cold and damp from holding his drink. "Stals," He said as he gently grabbed hold of her hand. "We often have every decision made for us... so, don't force him to do something he doesn't want to do, even if you have good intentions." He said before letting go and retreating back to the view outside the viewscreen.

Miraj sighed. She really didn't want to make S'hib feel uncomfortable or pressured or like he had no choice. "I won't. I guess as long as he knows it's not because we don't like him it's not a big deal. It's just what you do for your family. It feels weird not to do it. I know it's not about me. I just want him to be okay."

"He will be, you're part of his herd, Miraj... that is all any of us truly want, what any Sequus would want."

Miraj nodded, though only somewhat reassured. It still felt a bit too much like doing nothing for her to be really comfortable. But as she'd said. It wasn't about her. "So." She said brightly, putting her drink down and reclaiming the controls in full. Not far away was a moving patch of grey brown moving over the steppe. The herd of wild horses was probably five hundred strong, and she tipped them into a slow turn to get a better view. "Maybe you can answer another question, then? DO Sequus get as gaga over horses and humans do about monkeys and chimpanzees?"

Her question hung there, mirroring the sleek Queen Anne's as T'han glanced silently her way, his face saying all that needed to be said.

 

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