Ensign Morro Caras - Care for a hand?
Morro Caras
(( Senior Officers Mess Hall, Deck 2, USS Octavia E Butler ))
Ensign Morro Caras had divulged a fair amount of personal information in this mostly informal gathering with the most recent addition to the USS Octavia E Butler and her first officer. Morro had found himself enjoying their company. Then again there were not a lot of people he didn’t enjoy the company of.He thought all of them to be pleasant and dedicated officers. Morro always came away from conversations with Lahl with new pieces of knowledge and sometimes more wisdom; he had come to really enjoy her company pulling shifts in engineering. Jania Nis was a doctor, and while he usually did his best to avoid being in sick bay, it couldn’t be helped after the last mission. To Caras, Nis seemed like she was always being kept off balance by the chaotic forces of the universe. It was only her competency that kept her from fully tipping over. Avander Promontory was still a fairly big mystery to Morro Caras. To him the man exuded a calm, cool, and collected aura that made everyone within a seven meter radius around him a little more confident. Caras figured some of this had to do with his hair. Was that the source of his aura? It had been a pleasant evening so far getting to know them all better.
Caras: I suppose that isn’t too strange in the grand scheme of things. Older siblings are often like that and younger siblings make it more difficult.
Avander spun the lazy-Susan in the table’s center and reached for one of the Kendarian deviled eggs.
Nis: Oh, we love those!
Lahl: Response
Caras: My sister made me take ::pauses looking for phrasing:: special engineering courses and made me join the seekers guild back where I’m from.
Nis: Seekers guild? Do they, like, seek out special engineering problems?
Caras: Ah the seekers guild is short for the pleasure seekers and it’s a very Orion oriented guild that may be… not appropriate for dinner conversation.
The pleasure seekers weren’t obscene, as a matter of fact in the Vale their company was highly sought after and seen as sacred and a status symbol. They were seen there as honored hosts and in a way, artists. They were certainly not in the Vale however.
Promontory: (judiciously) Perhaps another time.
Nis: Yeah, but, you know, any time you’d like to get it off your chest, you just let us know.
Lahl: Response
Avander grabbed a parfait and slowly scooped out the contents while he talked.
Promontory: Alright, final ‘official’ question: where do you want to end up in your careers with Starfleet.
Nis: Certainly retiring, one day. Preferably with all our limbs, and not insane or partially phased like the people from the Dow or assimilated or ... :: Jania scratched her head. She wasn’t a very ambitious person, and Nis was old for a symbiont. Assuming Jania lived a lengthy Trill life like the majority of its previous hosts, it wouldn’t take another host after her. It mostly wanted to return to Trill and swim in an underground pond for the rest of its days. :: It would be nice to do something like Lt. Toz. But we don’t exactly imagine ourselves as a captain. That sounds really stressful.
Morro had to agree Chief Medical officer sounded like a more stressful job than the captain of a ship most of the time. Medicine was not his forte, and he had always been enamored with how StarFleet doctors seemed to perform daily miracles.
Caras: Chief engineer on a space station or a special research station with lots of EPS specifics that are difficult to keep locked in due to the nature of the research. ::brief pause:: It’s too bad most of the Alpha and Beta quadrants don’t trust Orion or else dipo….. ::trailing off::. Engineering is fine!
Caras had just realized that he was in the Gamma quadrant, most of the species here were unaware of Orion’s reputation in other parts of the galaxy. Was a career change for him possible here? He would have to think about that one. He had always planned just to be an engineer when he was at the academy, but now that his first duty post was here in the Gamma, it made him rethink things. Thinking that couldn’t be done at dinner in front of a lot of other people.
Lahl: Response
Promontory: I guess I’m as good a person as any to talk about that; let’s schedule some time later to discuss in more detail.
Lahl: Response
Nis: We love the idea of Starfleet. It’s like one big joined Trill, right? All these people working together for a common goal.
Caras paused for a second, he wasn’t sure he understood the metaphor at all. How exactly did Trill work? He had read up on them very recently but now the way Jania was describing StarFleet he wasn’t sure what she was fully getting.
Caras: How many symbiotes can one Trill fit in them?
Morro said it as more of an absent thought to no one and not exactly addressing the conversation.
Promontory: Well, we have this mess hall booked all night, but at some point I should probably finish up some PADDwork. (wryly) I understand a junior officer shot their superior officer and, well, now I have forms to fill out!
Nis: What?! A junior officer shot a superior officer? That’s terrible! We hope they’ve been suitably punished.
Caras: What factors determine less or more forms? How epic it looked? If said officer gave it as an order? Speed and accuracy that would make a marine jealous? Asking for a friend. ::under breath:: quick draw McLahl.
Caras had a moment of Jest. Out of context it sounded extremely problematic, but in actuality it left a massive positive impression on Caras, watching Lahl respond in such a definite manner.
Lahl: Response
Nis: Ohhhh. Uh . . . sorry.
Caras was no stranger to Klingon cuisine. He had spent a lot of time hijacking Klingon ships. He saw Nis grab the K’tlom. At first he thought it was just something she had a preference for, but then he witnessed surprise spread across her face. She was not prepared. Caras nearly stood up seeing that she was in pain.
Caras: Doctor are you…. Ok? Do you need to go to Sickbay? Here, try this ::grabbing something from the far end of the table:: this cream should… help?
He wasn’t sure if it would, but he was aware of the soothing properties, it probably wouldn't be enough with how big of a bite she took.
Promontory/Lahl: Response
Nis: One thing we’d like to know--what’s next for the ship? Will we stay in Gamma Quadrant? It’s a very interesting place.
Jania was still speaking through the pain of the burning. She was certainly dedicated to speaking when perhaps she shouldn't be.
Caras: Doctor you might want to…. See to that.
He watched the Doctor struggle a bit still.
Promontory/Lahl: Response
Caras: This has been an excellent evening spent getting to know you and trying some excellent food. We could always turn it into a few rounds of cards if we have it for a little while longer. Do any of you play?
A lot of people at the academy always gave Morro second glances when they played cards with him, but he was sure no one here would.
Promontory/Lahl: Response
Caras: I guess that begs the question Commander, which is more pressing? The PADDwork or your luck?
Caras was better than most would suspect he was at poker. He was decent at reading people. Morro had heard that most senior officer had amazing poker faces and he was keen to test that rumor.
Promontory/Lahl: Response
Caras: I’d be up for that.
Promontory/Lahl: Response
Tags/TBC
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Ensign Morro Caras
Engineering Officer
USS Octavia E. Butler
O240106MC1