Ensign Saavei - This Goes Here, That Goes There...
Tara W
((The ‘Terraces’, Varati’s & Saavei’s Apartment, Marrakech District, Amity Outpost))
Saavei hadn't expected to get as attached to her quarters and her roommates extroverted nature as she had these last several months, since she'd arrived on the Outpost fresh off the QSD transport ship. Now it was already hard to imagine a better set-up. When Commander Ukinix had first told her she wouldn't be in the Shikar District, she'd been disappointed, but the Vulcan had to give her CO that credit; perhaps in some way he'd known what she'd needed better than she had herself. Saavei had joined Starfleet to see new things (in part) and it had certainly been a different experience. Different was good.
She wasn't much of a gardener, sad to say. Vulcan plants tended to be what humans called 'succulents' on Earth. Hardy, desert-like organisms that could subsist on little water. That should mean it would be more difficult for Saavei to kill them, but it seemed she was a serial killer where they were concerned. She'd had an Aloe plant in the Academy and she'd rigorously watered it, exactly as prescribed, on a regular schedule. It had died. She'd tried with a small cactus. Dead. A bonsai tree, which she'd obtained in Japan. It's katra had also passed on. She could fix a warp drive and kick a torpedo launcher back into position, but if you asked her to look after your greenery, apparently she was as trustworthy as a Tal Shiar assassin in the dark.
So it was that Saavei, while she'd no doubt kill a coffee tree as quickly as anything else, was more than in her element building a machine to brew up its ground-up beans into something more tantalizing. She'd always preferred spice tea but it would be a shame to not enjoy the fruits of their labor, once it was completed. As it turned out, the machine wasn't intricate but was surprisingly delicate in its assembly. A certain... degree of finesse was required. Alright, it was more difficult than it appeared.
Varati: ::to herself:: Attach side panel 32-A to base plate B-3, but not to tab T-5, first attach drip tray DP-4x...
While D'Cyra was laying parts out on the table and scratching the back of her head, Saavei was looking at the instructions on the PADD in front of her. She turned it one way, then the other, before zooming in on... oO No, wrong part Oo
Varati: Wait… what?! “Le Grille”? … ::to Saavei:: ... are you sure that's the right instruction?
Saavei: It is difficult to say. Some of these instructions appear to be in a different language. ::She tried to pronounce some of the words:: Vous vous y prenez mal si la pièce A ne glisse pas doucement dans la pièce B?
She was almost certain she'd heard that language before on Earth but couldn't place it. She saw D'Cyra give her a surprised look, though at least it looked like she'd laid out her parts correctly?
Varati: Well, I don't know... but apparently the second instruction manual is for a different device...
Saavei: I believe I have heard him talk about 'grilling' before. An Earth tradition wherein the flesh of dead animals is seared atop a fiery surface before being consumed socially? ::She looked at it again:: "Le Gril" is likely not for us. It seems an odd error for what I had hoped would be a simple assembly.
Varati: Okay... then I'll download the instructions to the PADD again. But I want a discount for the incorrect instructions! … Hmm, better not, lest this end in another fiasco.
Saavei resisted the urge to shake her head. No... no more misadventures seeking discounts. It was only Bob's lack of prior integrity and Lieutenant Moore's cleverness that had kept the two of them from a more serious punishment. As it was, she was more than happy to avoid Betazoid Bob, his Emporium, and everything related to him. She wouldn't mind giving another try at building or customizing a ship with D'Cyra though. Her mind unknowingly mirrored her roommates; it wasn't a topic she cared to dwell on.
Saavei: I am at least confident we have the correct pieces... mostly... if not the correct schematics. From that we can improvise, if need be.
D’Cyra pulled out her PADD, working its screen, while Saavei began to assemble parts for the percolator. Or what she assumed was part of that system.
Varati: How did the repairs to the Indy actually go? You guys seemed to have suffered far more damage than the rest of us. I’m so glad we all made it out of the subspace corridors in one piece.
Saavei: Commander Ukinix has a very liberal interpretation of cautionary words about the state of a vessel. His faith, or gamble, proved justified in the end. And he has been about assisting with repairs. I do not know him well enough to say, but I believe he derives a certain sense of enjoyment from putting his equipment to the test. A hypothesis I will continue to collect data on. The Vaadwaur were apparently very determined to shoot at us.
The Independence-B was still in drydock for repairs. Torpedo launcher, hull breaches, magnetic interlocks, plasma injectors, impulse manifolds, ablative armor repairs, a nearly-burned out main deflector... it was going to nearly be a new vessel by the time they were done.
Varati: Response
Saavei looked over to her Orion friend. Her features became more serious (if one could tell) for a moment.
Saavei: When I saw the torpedo had detonated inside the Outpost, I was greatly concerned for your well being. It was very satisfying to learn you were relatively unharmed. The Vaadwaur had conspired to deprive us of yours and others' company. I am content they failed.
The Vulcan extended her hand, index and middle fingers together, to press her fingertips against D'Cyra's if she chose to reciprocate the gesture. At the touch, if completed, there was a simple sense of warmth from the Vulcan's mind which would be transferred over. Not emotion per se but an acknowledgement that D'Cyra was important to her. It was a question of sorts as well; asking without words if D'Cyra truly was okay. Perhaps it was Saavei's own feelings of conflict while under fire that prompted her to 'ask' without words. It wasn't something she was sure of how to discuss out loud.
Varati: Response
Saavei returned her hands to the work of assembling their coffee maker. She kept her body angled towards D'Cyra as she did so, however.
Saavei: I heard your own experiences in Underspace were far from 'tame'?
Varati: Response
Tag/TBC