Lt. Commander Yogan Yalu — Pie pie pie pie pie pie pie
Yogan Yalu
(( The Round Table, Deck 13, USS Excalibur-A ))
Yogan was growing more comfortable with coming to The Round Table. Originally, he feared that the center of the ship’s social activity would trend toward the types of raucous and boisterous places he preferred to avoid, like Molly Malone’s. Instead, The Round Table’s massive size and generic decor much more resembled those innocuous and unobjectionable lounges found all around Starfleet Command and the Academy campus in San Francisco; places where people would come after a long day, to unwind and transition from the daytime business of work or study to wherever they would go next to actually be themselves for a night. The fact that they were deliberately antiseptic was actually a comfort to Yogan rather than a turn-off.
Still, he couldn’t help feeling that something was missing. He sat alone at his table, trying to get back into his latest psychodrama, Dangerous Nettles by Iko Rezu, but was having trouble. Nettles was the sequel to Rezu’s breakthrough work, Dearest, You Said, which Yogan had adored, and he had high hopes for the next installment in the series. The plot was engaging, the characters were three dimensional, and the dialogue was so authentic, but Yogan just wasn’t interested.
The newcomer in his mind, Talos, Yalu’s unofficial ninth host, still felt like an interloper. Yogan was tempted to contact his brother in New Zealand, who’d trained as a Guardian and even did the memory transfers during Yogan’s zhian’tara, and ask for some off-the-record advice. But avoidance was easier, and a part of Yogan half-hoped that Talos’ imprint would fade with time. It didn’t seem like it would.
Yogan hunched over the table and poured his attention back into Dangerous Nettles. With any luck, he would become engrossed in the story to the exclusion of all his real-world ponderings. He’d only progressed a single page when he was distracted by the feeling of something small, sticky, and slightly slimy, landing on the back of his neck with a dull pat.
He sat up straight and instantly reached to feel for the offending object. Between the top of his collar and the bottom of his hairline, was a small mound of goop. He scraped it off the back of his neck and looked at it with confusion and a small bit of horror. Reluctantly, and hoping to whatever deity currently ruled the universe that he wouldn’t regret this, he brought his hand to his nose and sniffed.
Yalu: oO Mmm. Oo
Yogan hesitantly tasted it. Nutty. Sweet. A bit spicy. A dessert of some kind? Nothing like Yogan had ever tasted.
Cliffhigh: Sorry about that, I am a little accident prone.
Watson: response
Cliffhigh: Since I was a child I am clumsy. Don’t know why. I am sure that is not the case with yourself.
Watson: response
The statements from the table immediately behind Yogan caught his attention. He took one of the rolled napkins at his table, cleaned off his hands and neck, then stood and paid his neighboring Round Tablers a visit. One of them Yogan recognized, a security ensign called Martin Watson. The other, who had some remnants of the same pasty goo on his forehead, Yogan couldn’t recall meeting.
Yalu: Hello, gentlemen. ::gestures to the pie on the table, addresses Cliffhigh:: I think I got a free gift from you a moment ago.
Cliffhigh / Watson: response
Yalu: No harm done. It’s probably good for the skin. ::holds up PADD:: I was struggling with a book anyway, I’m grateful for the distraction. Mind if I join you?
Cliffhigh / Watson: response
Yogan took a seat between the ensign and the chief petty officer and stuffed his PADD in his jacket pocket.
Yalu: ::to Cliffhigh:: I don’t think we’ve been introduced. I’m Yogan Yalu, Strategic Operations Officer.
Cliffhigh: response
Yalu: Ah, I heard about you from Kirky. Pleased to meet you. You have excellent taste in pies. ::to Watson:: And you’re Watson, right? You rescued Lieutenant Yellir's cat from Resolution?
Watson: response
Yalu: I’m sure you’re both glad to have your bodies back. Did you swap with each other?
Cliffhigh / Watson: response
Tag / TBC
Lt. Commander Yogan Yalu
Strategic Operations Officer
USS Excalibur NCC-41903-A
Justin D238804DS0