PNPC Crewman Jozial Renirs – Conduct unbecoming
Jovenan
((Renirs’ and others’ Quarters, Deck 6, USS Artemis))
Ding dong (or equivalent onomatopoeia of the doorbell chime).
A guest signalling their desire to enter a residence required those within the said domicile to follow a protocol that transcends time and culture: nobody moved except to stare the others in gesture of transferring them the duty to answer. The ritual then advanced to eyerolls and irritated snorts until one of them relented.
Ruusi walked over to the door, while his roommates resumed their private activities in silence, only occasionally turning to see who would be coming visit them. The Tactical Crewman opened the door, revealing the well-illuminated yet empty corridor of the lowest deck with permanent habitation.
Ruusi: What the… We’ve been knock, knock gingered!
Lisko: We’ve been WHAT?
The Xindi-Reptilian put down her PADD watching Ruusi lean out of the door and turning his head to left and right. Jozial also turned her screen off but didn’t bother turning around on her bunkbed.
Ruusi: You know, Ring-A-Bell Skoosh. Bobby Knocking. Knock down ginger.
Lisko: Nobody talks like that, Mat!
Renirs: ::shakes head:: Humans…
Ruusi: Oh shut up, you two don’t even speak Standard!
Losing her interest, Jozial turned her PADD back on. She didn’t know what Ruusi was rambling about, but she didn’t care either. They had obviously been pranked, the perpetrators had run away as soon as they had chimed the bell and were likely behind the corner laughing till their bottoms fell off. No doubt it was the jerks from the Gamma shift; those snot-nosed kids had been causing trouble the entire few months Renirs had been posted on the Artemis. One of Jozial’s first warm memories of the ship was the time they broke and entered their quarters and had made their replicators only fabricate panties. The Supervising Petty Officer had torn them all a new one.
Ruusi: Wait, what is this?
Jozial rolled her eyes as she turned her PADD screen black again, now rolling to lay on her back and raising her upper body just enough to see the human bowing down and lifting something off the ground. He turned, closing the door as he came, and showed the other crewmen what he had found on the floor.
Ruusi: ::smirk:: Which one of yours boyfriend is leaving weeds on our doorsteps?
Lisko: ::snorts, to Ruusi:: Ha, must be yours!
Ruusi stared at Lisko, with utter confusion blanking his face. Jozial shared the expression with him, until it dawned on her. Ruusi, perhaps not knowing all the details, must have come to a somewhat similar conclusion. Oh…
Ruusi: Reni!? You!?
Jozial jumped from her bunkbed. Lisko was laughing in a low-pitched, rumbling voice.
Lisko: Haven’t you heard the rumours? Our Reni has been on a date. With an officer.
Jozial didn’t want to admit how blushed she was. Kliss had got her flowers! She had wished Kliss wouldn’t have ditched them like she had but had stayed to give the flowers to her personally, but she also had to admit how awkward it would have been to the both of them. Now, she hoped her roommates would interpret her rosy cheeks as reddened of anger instead of the thought of her crush.
Renirs: ::reaches out:: Give me them.
If an officer acted in a manner unbecoming of a gentleman, they could be given sever sanctions. That law, however, only bound the officers. The people who had written these codes ages ago had had very low expectations for the enlisted crew, believing them to be little more than misbehaving children. They were not wrong. Ruusi quickly hid the flowers behind his back.
Ruusi: ::mockingly, high-pitched:: Oooh, you’ve been daaaating beyond your rank! Now he’s leaving you floooowers because he’s in looooove, and you gonna get a promooootioooon…
Lisko: Actually, I think it’s a sh…
Not waiting for either of them to continue, Jozial jumped on Ruusi, trying to reach the arm bent behind his back, holding the gift from the cute Andorian. However, Ruusi managed to dodge the first attack and extended his arm to keep the flowers further away from Jozial, resuming his mockery.
Renirs: ::furious:: I said gimme them!
Ruusi: ::mockingly:: Or what? You gonna tell a teach…
This time Jozial didn’t go for the arm as Ruusi had been expecting. Instead, she managed to get her own arm around his neck, holding him in a tight chokehold. Pressing her knee against the back of his knee, and putting her entire bodyweight onto him, she managed to pull him onto all fours to the ground.
Renirs: Gimme them, or I will ::bleep:: your ::bleep:: ::bleep:: in the ::bleep:: plasma injector.
Ruusi tried to get the Trill crewman’s arm off of his neck, smothering him, but he relented in a matter of seconds, raising the hand that was holding the flowers. Jozial released her hold of him and grasped them from him. Lisko had been laughing the entire time, but Jozial fired a murderous gaze to her, silencing her. Lisko showed her palms in a sign of surrender while Ruusi was caressing his neck on the floor.
Ruusi: Geez, Reni. I was just kidding, chill.
Ignoring the obnoxious roommates of hers, Jozial inspected the flowers. The selection of flowers, some of which Jozial recognized for their role in Earth romantic gestures, had been bound together with a simple yet elegant, white satin ribbon. Some of them had sadly been broken or bent by the brutish grasp of the human idiot, and Jozial had to gather a few surviving flowers from the floor. Still, the bouquet had mostly survived and looked pretty.
She walked over to their replicator, while her roommates reclined to their beds, cautiously looking at her doings at times.
Renirs: Vase, for flowers, glass… 25 centimetres.
After the flower holder materialised in the small alcove, she carefully positioned the bouquet to it. She leaned in to smell the large, gorgeous red rose in the middle. She had heard humans had assigned different symbolic meanings to their flowers, but sadly she didn’t know many of them. She was fairly certain roses were for love, and she derived from there that the others would have somewhat similar meanings. Caressing some of the damaged flowers, she blushed thinking Kliss would be thinking of her when selecting the flowers.
Delighted, Jozial placed the vase to nightstand by her bed. Looking at it for a moment, she suddenly turned to her roommates, giving them a stare that had an obvious meaning. The others quickly turned their eyes away, afraid they might face her rage should they taint the flowers with their gazes.
She retired to her bed as well, keeping her eyes on the flowers. Smiling at them, she thought of the ways she could return the favour to Kliss.
End scene
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Crewman Third Class Jozial Renirs
Enlisted technician
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11