Ensign Qurgh'Loq Yinn: Booze and Circuses

[Mike Vago]

((Writer’s Room, USS OEB))

At first, if one of Yinn's bodies was underwater, they'd forget to breathe and then both bodies would be gasping for air. Which is not a great look for a Klingon preparing for a diplomatic conference.

Then it took them far too long to accept that, on a purely physical level, Klingons were not good swimmers. Their limbs were powerful, but their bodies were simply too dense. Far easier for their Bolian body to practice with the lightweight bat'leth they had designed. And keeping focused on bat'leth practice in the gymnasium while also making idle conversation with crewmates with their Klingon self was a good mental exercise. Keeping mind and body strong was, happily, an area where Bolian work ethic and Klingon discipline reinforced each other.

Koryan: Come on in. Care for a drink?

Yinn: My four favorite words!

Maxwell: Response

The seats at the bar itself were empty, leaving plenty of room if they decided they wanted to linger.  It didn’t matter, as long as they were satisfied, but he never minded when someone decided to remain and converse.  

Koryan: What can I get you three? 

(ooc: I'm just bringing the Klingon body into this one; it's easier to write (and, presumably, read), and I like the idea that Yinn's basically always working on two different things in two parts of the ship at once.)

Yinn: Human ouzo, please.

Even before becoming entangled, Loq didn't want the bartender to assume on sight that they wanted blood wine. And while ouzo had gotten them into trouble — in fact, it was the first of many steps that led to their entanglement — they had still developed a taste. A very strong drink by human standards, a middling one by Klingon, and the rare human drink their Bolian taste buds found palatable.

Maxwell: Response

Koryan: Have you met?

Loq rubbed the ridge on top of their head. It was a Bolian gesture, and it took a few weeks to adjust to how different the same set of movements felt with their heavier Klingon hands and bigger and more numerous ridges.

Yinn: We were on Cheyd'lang at the same time, but in all the chaos, we didn't really get to talk. 

Maxwell: Response

Yinn: The one and only. Or two. It's funny, my brains started working in sync almost immediately, so the hardest part is just knowing how to talk about myself. oOFor me and everyone else. Loq had had to re-explain their situation so many times, it felt like they had an easier time adjusting than anyone else on the ship.Oo 

Koryan/Maxwell: Response

Yinn: I'm also in the gym right now, practicing with a bat'leth. I think that's been the biggest adjustment; that one body is much weaker than the other, and one's more agile. A Bolian's life begins when we first touch the ocean, and now part of me can barely swim. And of course a Klingon who can't swing a bat'leth is no Klingon at all. 

Koryan/Maxwell: Response

Loq downed their drink and motioned for a refill.

Yinn: I normally don't like to take breaks from work, but Counselor Salo says I'm using that as an excuse to avoid learning how to adjust socially. I keep telling her I never took breaks before either! 

Koryan/Maxwell: Response

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Ensign Qurgh'Loq Yinn
Science Officer/Diplomatic Corps
USS Octavia E. Butler