The gift.

Posted on Thu Jun 13th, 2024 @ 6:21am by Lieutenant JG Miraj Derani & Sovereign T'handu

Mission: Season 6 HIATUS
Location: Miraj's Quarters
Timeline: MD 01 1500
3359 words - 6.7 OF Standard Post Measure

T'han paid no mind to the young eyes that stared at him in shock as he walked by, simply nodding deeply with a smile.

He had become accustomed to this visceral reaction in the younger members of the crew, especially when he was with Mistress An'dalus.

Yet he still found himself slowing his pace, waiting for them to continue around the bend before he stopped and backed up a few paces.

"I think it's this one?" He muttered softly to himself as he looked about, trying to understand the symbols written beside the door.

"Yeah, that ones the same shape..." He noted proudly before pressing the chime, leaving it lightly smudged in flour.

Miraj asked the computer who had rung the bell, so she was ready to open the door with eyes looking up. It was the only way to be sure with Sequus. Even so, she still underestimated, and got an eyeful of broad shoulders, collarbones standing out in stark definition. "Hi T'han. It's been a while." She resolutely refused to drop her gaze. Just in case.

"Ah, Miraj... yes, I hope I'm not disturbing you," T'han replied with a deep bow. "But I wished to give you this." He finished, lifting the large fat loaf of bread he held between both hands.

The smell of baked bread filled her nose, and her mouth watered. "You baked? Wow. Thats awesome. Come in. I'll replicate some oil or something."

“I did!” T’han stated proudly as he ducked under the doorframe. “Regrettably though some of the ingredients had to be replicated, but as Sequus bread goes, Its as authentic as it can be.”

"Oh, so this is local to you?" Please dont have anything weird in it

“It is, I learned the recipe from my mother before i was chosen to become a Sovereign, it's an old recipe… from when we were desert nomads.”

He placed the Loaf down atop her desk as he spoke, taking a moment to look at the flour over his hands before brushing them on his hips.

“It’s why I needed the holodeck, to bake it buried in the sand with hot coals.”

"Wow. Thats very old fashioned." Miraj went to the replicator and got plates, oil, vinegar and butter. "Does it take long?"

"Normally it would, as you would have to wait for the fire to get hot enough..." T'han glanced about as he spoke, taking in the small room while occasionally glancing back at Miraj.

"But it being a holodeck I could replicate the conditions almost instantly." He concluded, leaning his head forward on his long neck to look at the nearby books, not understanding the words written on the covers.

She set out some plates and a carving knife. "So, to what do I owe the honor of sand bread?"

T’han paused, mid retrieval of a book to turn and look at Miraj “It is customary to bring gifts when visiting someone’s home.”

He then turned back to the book, tugging it free from
the rest to stare at the cover. “Is it normal for your kind to not wear clothes on boats?” he asked, spinning the book round to show her.

"Er, no." Miraj winced at the cover. Blackbeard's Bounty was a rollicking yarn of adventure on the high seas. but the cover artist had got quite carried away depicting strapping young men with golden tans (and notably no tan lines) hauling a treasure chest aboard in such a way to strategically emphasise various well defined muscles. They were also wearing almost nothing but breeches and the occasional kercheif. "Most parts of the world it's too cold, and where it's not too cold, it's too hot, and people like most of them would burn bright red. So no. we all wear clothes. On boats. And most other places. I don't know what the cover artist was thinking."

He turned the book back, A deep frown forming as he gazed at the artwork clutched between his hands.

"We have boats too, on Sequella..." He began, following the book back with his eyes as he placed it on the shelf. "But they're not very big," He continued after a brief inhale.

"The waters are too shallow on the coast, with all the scattered islands and reefs... some of which you can walk to at low tide."

"Not so much oceans as puddles?" She carved off a chunk of the bread, and pulled the soft centre out from the crust and dipped it into the oil. "the ocean floor on earth typically gets to around 6 kilometers, once you clear the continental shelf. But the deep trenches get to twice that. Our ships got big too. Right before World War 3, the ships were getting to twenty, twenty five meters in the draught, and as long as a nebula class. Bigger than the original Enterprise."

"Oh no, not puddles." T'han started as he gently padded a few steps closer, towering over Miraj before reaching for the bread. "Over half of the planet is ocean, deep ocean mind..." He added as he began carving away at the exposed flank of bread, turning somewhat and exposing his muscular and toned rear.

"It's safer to travel through the Red Sea than venture beyond the barrier reefs."

"Here be dragons?" Miraj's voice quivered a moment, her hand suspended over the oil as her eyes traced the deep cut under his abdominals. That was.. that was. "Sorry, what was the question?"

“Question?” T’han asked as the knife clattered on the cutting board in tandem. “Did I ask a question?”

He turned again, clicking the short step towards her before crouching over to dip his bread in the oil

“Uh, how have you been?” He said awkwardly, painfully unaware the long colourful wrap of cloth that hung between his legs, the only modicum of decency he wore, had leant away from his body as sat there leaned over.

"I'm good. Same old, same old. Mostly waiting for engineering to get the QSD back together." She glanced at the edge of his loincloth, ready to drop away at the slightest moment. She quickly looked up again. Eyes towards the ceiling was the only safe way for Sequus, however many muscles they had. "What about you? I don’t think I've seen you since before The Thing."

“About that,” T’han replied with a sadness she had not seen in him before, even on the shuttle discussing his life on Sequella he was at most, indifferent.

“When word of what happened reached Mistress An’Dalus she would not let me leave her sight, her doubts about your crews ability to keep her safe seemingly confirmed.”

He paused, placing the remaining bread in his hand back down on the board. “But as for me,” He continued, moving his head towards her before finally and gently nudging his forehead against her pink hair. “I’m just glad you’re still here.”

"That's very sweet." she finally managed to eat the bread. it was heavy and chewy, bursting with a sharp sour tang and a slight beery after taste that added fruity notes as well. "This is delicious!" she said through her mouthful.

T'han's eyes lit up at the compliment "Thank you! I can always make you more."

Still smiling he turned to the bread, retrieving the previous slice he had placed down. "Or something else if you'd like, I know quite a few recipes."

"That would be nice. I like trying alien food. Even if I made myself sick on Uncle Zuki's hesperat that time. So maybe nothing too spicy."

"An assortment perhaps?" T'han blurted out around the bread in his mouth, hastily chewing it out of the way before continuing. "I- uh, I could arrange something for us on the holodeck? and- um... that way you could see how some of it's made?"

His nativity was on full display at this moment, with T'han painfully unaware of the proposal he was putting forth. But he didn't know any better, because everything that had come before was simply duty, his purpose among his kind.

"That could be fun. Though I should warn you, I can't cook. I once set fire to the galley before I went to the Academy."

"Then I will teach you!" T'han replied enthusiastically before taking a few more steps further into her quarters, again becoming distracted by all the little trinkets and odds and ends that filled the small space. "May I sit?" He asked, unknowingly gesturing to her bed; The flat rectangle looked more like a raised seat to him instead of the sleeping of his world.

"Er, sure. Be my guest. No, wait!" She dived across the bed and moved a small stuffed bear in an eyepatch and a frock coat. "Mustn't squash Stede! Okay, sit."

T’han stared at her briefly, his heart racing from the sudden panic she had unwittingly caused. “Stede?” he asked, flicking his tail out of the way as he sat down, the bed audibly protesting as he did so.

Miraj held up the little fluffy golden brown bear. "Stede. My brother got him for me when I was little. I named him after a famous pirate from Earth history. He came with me to the Academy, and I haven't had the heart to leave him with Dad. I know its silly, at my age."

T'han thought about what she said, his mind puzzled by the duality of the bear's existence. "No..." He eventually said before reaching up to his mane, the intricately tangled mess of braids and knotted curls unfurling as he removed a length of cloth.

"This is my mother's mane." T'han continued, twirling a stubby cloven finger around the deep chestnut braid. "Sometimes when I can't sleep, I run my fingers over it."

He fell silent after this, his eyes glossing over as his mind went elsewhere.

"Do animals on your worlds wear clothes too?" He asked innocently, suddenly remembering where he was.

Miraj saw him drift for a moment, becalmed somewhere in a memory and she sympathised. It must be even harder on T'han and the other sequus to be so far from home. "I'm not sure. I'm not really from earth. The first time I went there it was for the Academy. Possibly?"

"What's your world like?" T'han replied as he scooted further onto the bed, mindful to place a hand firmly over his loincloth before bringing his legs up, awkwardly manoeuvring them over one another until he was sat cross-legged.

"Is it warm?" He added with a bright smile. "The only other planet I've been to was that cold one with the white sand, I didn't like it very much."

"I'm not from a planet." Miraj grabbed the tray of bread and oil and put it on the bed between them, pulling Stede into the pocket of her crossed legs. "I was born in space. And then I lived in space entirely. Hadn't put a foot on a planet till the Academy. And it was horrible. Climate jumps all over the place, I burn like crazy in even a little bit of sun, the air tastes entirely weird and it doesn't vibrate. On ship you get used to the whole structure buzzing, its barely there, most people don't notice it, but I do, and having that go away was...weird."

He sat back a moment, his ears rotating slowly atop his head. "Is that what that is... I thought it was." His attention shifted, his eyes moving back to her for a moment before drifting to the bread. "I can definitely hear it more since the Elysium was damaged, a subtle groaning now and then."

"Oh, she's practically moaning compared to before. But all ships have a heartbeat if you like. Get close enough to them, its easier to feel. But right now, Ely isn't a happy girl, and you can feel the strain."

"And what about you?" T'han asked as he cut at the bread for them both. "Are you happy?"

Miraj blinked. The question made her brain grind to a halt. "I... " It was a good question. Was she happy? "I miss my brother. And not just because we're so far away. He's been a big part of my life, and it was bad when he moved out, and then I went to the academy and it got worse. He thought I should go into the shuttle racing circuit, but I wanted to fly the big ships. And I'm doing that, but..." she gave a helpless little shrug.

He listened to her talk, watching her face with avid interest as her expression changed. It was still a dynamic of understanding humanoids that he was fuzzy on.

"Just because we are good at something doesn't mean we enjoy doing it..." He said, dipping a slice of bread in oil before lifting it and reaching across the bed towards Miraj. "Pretending that you do won't make you happy."

He looked at her with a soft smile, his other hand, cupped under the bread and catching the odd droplet of oil.

"What? No! I love flying the big ships. I only need another 1000 hours at conn to get into the test pilot program at Utopia Planetia. I've already got a place waiting for me. I have since midshipman year. But its doesn't mean I don't miss Mal."

He sat there with his hands hovering awkwardly, pulling them back slightly once she began talking. "Oh, I... I misunderstood, I do apologise..." He said, before raising his hands, already feeling the oil running into his coat and skin.

"I miss my brother too," He began, trying to bridge some familiarity in the subject. "But I don't really know much about him anymore, we both got inducted into the cult at such a young age that all I have are vague memories..."

"That's awful," Miraj took the bread, and stuffed it into her mouth, leaning over slightly to make sure no stray oil dropped on her teddy bear, sucking on her thumb to get the last trace off. She had to chew for a moment before there was enough room to speak, "It's horrible to break up a family like that. Have you ever looked for him?"

"Looked?" T'han asked, tilting his head with a confused expression as his ears and mane flopped to one side. "I saw him most days while serving the mortuary sisterhood, but mine and his duties as Sovereigns strictly forbid us from leaving our priestesses' side unless otherwise instructed."

He paused for a moment, pulling his hands back and assessing how best to rectify the mess that had run onto his wrist.

"Mistress An'Dalus has been very lenient with me as of late, which has afforded me the pleasure of being here with you." He stated in a matter of fact tone before running his tongue up his wrist and into the palm of his hand.

Miraj watched his long broad and somewhat prehensile tongue curl along his arm, delicately chasing drops of oil, her mouth hanging open. She gave a little swallow that was nothing to do with the bread she was eating. She struggled to bring her thoughts back to the conversation. "Do you not... er.. days off?"

"Not until I came aboard your ship." He said before quickly studying his cloven fingers, spotting more oil nestled between the two. "I've been struggling to find things to pass the time, to be honest." He said with jovial tone before licking between his fingers. "Which explains the bread!"

"You know," Miraj finished chewing, and was carving another chunk of bread. "There's a load of hobbies you could try." She gave him an impish smile, "You should consider tailoring."

"Tailoring?" He asked with another confused tilt of his head. "What's that?"

"Oh." Miraj thought there'd be a least a word for it in sequellan, but the UT had failed her. "Its making clothes. Usually custom pieces that only fit one person properly."

"Oh ok..."

T'han still looked confused for a moment before his ears perked up. "Well I made this!" he added excitedly, pointing at the loincloth draped over his bits. "Does that count?"

Don't Look, don't look! She looked. Swallowed. The cloth had quite a lot of drape, and moulded to his body. "Yes.. but I was thinking..." she scrambled off the bed, putting Stede on the night stand, and went to rummage through her sea chest. "Like this!" She held up the red velvet frock coat with its deep cuffs and broad lapels. She slid it on, then did a twirl so he could see the flaring vents in the back. She pulled the buttons closed too so he could see how it covered everything.

His brow curled curiously as he watched Miraj, he had seen plenty of humanoid clothing since coming aboard, but this was something else.

But then his eyes flicked over to Stede, then back to Miraj and finally drifting down to her legs.

"Don't you have to take those off too?" He asked naively, pointing at her legs before looking back at Stede. "Because... the bears not?" T'han mumbled as he looked back at her. "I'm confused."

Miraj's embarrassment gave way to relieved laughter. "Oh, no. Teddy bears have different rules. And he used to have breeches, but I lost them on Jupiter station when I was eight." She took the coat off again. "Something like this is outerwear. It's supposed to go on top of other layers."

T'han frowned at Stede, why did he get different rules he thought. "On Sequella... In the monsoon months, it sometimes doesn't stop raining for weeks on end, so we have these things we wear that I think you call coats... but they're just big hoods." He moved his hands, shaping them over his head to emphasise the design.

"And then it flows into like a long... thing, down to your knees... helps keep us dry." He smiled, happy to be with someone who just wanted to talk.

"Other than that we don't wear layers, don't wear clothes..."

"Yes. We all know that." Miraj was very aware of that fact. "So maybe tailoring is out. Have you thought about Parrises Squares. Needs more co-ordination than I've got, but plenty of people play. Its a team sport if you like that sort of thing."

"I don't know what that is..." He said as he looked down at the floor, his mind drifting off again. He didn't know much of anything he concluded, his singular purpose as Sovereign blinding him from an entire life's worth of experiences.

"It's a game. A team game. You'd be good at it, I bet. You have to be fast and need quick reactions. Its kind of popular at the academy so there's bound to be plenty of people who play and can teach you. And when the holodecks are back up, playing would be easy."

T'han thought momentarily, returning to his time sparing with other Sovereigns. "When I was young, we would fight in the school pits... sometimes it was one or one, but it was the most fun when it was class versus class."

"Well then." Miraj grinned at him. "I think we've found your thing."

"Would you watch?" He asked excitedly while sitting up, grinning at the idea of showing off.

Miraj grabbed the padd from her nightstand to see if there was any information that would help him find players. "Of course, if the play zone can take spectators. The balls can go very hard and very fast."

"You haven't seen how hard and fast I can go!" He quipped back, his tail flicking excitedly behind him to lash at the wall.

"True." she admitted, "Which just means you'll probably be great. Look!" She held out the padd with a list of who was in the ship's Parrises Squares club. "Captain Woolheater plays. I'm sure he could teach you the basics. You should ask him."

T'han stared at the PADD briefly, then looked up at Miraj with a determined glint in his eyes. "I will!"

 

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