Ensign Doz Finch - A Bird's-eye View
Doz Finch
((Cyrithra Forest, Palanon))
Alieth: He is the captain's bondmade, Captain Walter Brunsig. :: The Vulcan tilted her head before taking a sip of her coffee. He is the commanding officer of the Triumphant, part of our taskforce, so I assume he is “one of ours".
Finch: ::her eyebrows crossed in thought:: He is, is he? From the Triumphant! So part of the Tyrellian taskforce, then.
Alieth: In fact, we actually had to rescue them a few months ago in the Rift.
Moments into their exchange of information–one sided since Alieth was the one with all the information–the new counsellor, T’Lar, carefully introduced herself into the conversation through her mother-tongue. She had a particular grace about her, as all Vulcan’s tended to, but the image of her reacting to the impatient queue-goer in the Brew Continuum still lingered humorously in the back of Finch’s mind.
T'Lar: T'nar pak sorat y'rani. T'Lar T'nash-veh, tvi'okh... ::Then turning to Finch:: Hello Doz.
Alieth gave a bow, followed by a hand raise. Doz squinted and awkwardly did the same.
Alieth: Sarlah nash-veh dvin-tor2
Finch: How’s it going, Counsellor?
T'Lar: ::she showed deference:: Vu dvin dor etwel.:: To Doz :: I thought I heard you being attacked by some vicious creature... ::giving a very sly upturn of the corner of her mouth:: Was it this impressive canine?
Alieth: She is a Terran Pyrenean Mastiff, Cheesecake Watanabe. Even more, I guarantee that she is not vicious and has been thoroughly trained.
Finch: ::she flicked a bit of fish-head juice off the elbow of her shirt and grinned:: It certainly was, though I’ll take the Commanders word for it; she’s a just a hard lover. Aren’t you!? You’ve just got a great big heart! ::she politely ruffled the side of the canines body::
T'Lar: So this is the famous Cheesecake that the crew is so enamored with. ::T'Lar was doing a passable job of appearing calm but the dog's friendly exhuberance made her very nervous. Not wanting to show fear in front of the other Vulcan she asked:: May I pet her?
Alieth: Indeed, she is amicable, as per human standards.
Both Doz and Alieth lifted their hands from the dog, and it excitedly and properly introduced itself to the evidently tentative T’Lar; accepted shortly thereafter with a patting of the vulcans hand.
Watanabe: Borrobork! Bork!
Finch: It looks as though you’ve got a fan in Cheesecake, Counsellor. It’s an honour that—the highest honour I’m sure. ::she winked to Alieth::
Alieth: I suspect you are a new arrival to the Gorkon, are you not? I have not followed the latest roster changes due to the rebuilding efforts, in which department will you serve?
T'Lar: I am. Like Doz I am one of the newly arrived from Starbase 118. I am assigned to the Ship's Counselor department.
Finch: And in the nick of time, I think. With everything that has gone on here.
Alieth: So you already knew each other, then? Interesting. Did you also meet at the Academy?
T'Lar: I first met Ensign Finch in the Admiral's office when I payed my respects. I do not believe she and I attended the Academy together. ::To Doz:: I was 30 when I first attended the Academy, and I am 56 now, however I missed a year and a half. after the Breen attack on Starfleet. It's possible, give the closeness in our ages, that you could have been an upperclassman. I graduated in 237805.15.
Finch’s nose squirmed; the woman was four years younger than her yet didn’t look a day over thirty, in her opinion anyway. The audacity of Vulcan genetics—she had half a mind to go there herself and figure out the secret, if it weren’t for their stuffy weather and cheesy milk.
Whether or not she was an upperclassman she couldn’t say, but she felt it was unlikely, given her unique entrance into Starfleet. She had only seen one or two Vulcan’s, and at least one of them was an instructor—an expert in fire-proofing, if she remembered rightly. Her second run–her sponsorship and thereby placement at the Officer Candidate School–had a lot more Vulcan students.
Finch: Did you? ::she asked, voice emphasised:: I graduated in twenty three fifty eight, I think it was. Or was it fifty nine? It might have been fifty nine. God it was a long time ago now. But I was enlisted, so I think the odds are against us there.
Alieth: Fascinating. I was just going to tell the Ensign Doz that I would introduce her to some of the crew if she wished to, would you like to join us?
T'Lar: That would be greatly appreciated. I have seen a few people thus far that I have met, however I have yet to meet my Department Head, Lieutenant Fortune.
Finch: She’s a good one, that Lieutenant Fortune. Met her on the Rogue Planet—I wouldn’t mind catching up with her again, given the fact we’re not hunched in a collapsing tunnel anymore.
Finch raised her eyebrows knowingly at Alieth; Fortune and Alieth were the first two officers that she had gotten to know on the Gorkon. All of the officers and crewmen she had met before that encounter had either briefly said hello or hurriedly lashed a duty at her, such as the one to drive the Azetbur down to the crumbling village—truly throwing her in at the deep end of the ocean, or unmellow yellow sea, to be more precise.
Reflecting on it made the older woman's eyes glass over in thought, similarly to the privacy glass in sickbay, though with less of a black ice and more of a gentle frost. The expressions of terror, unease and tiredness that hung on the faces of those the three of them were charged with saving floated in front of her. And her bones could still feel the shackling of the structure that hurtled them up, through and out of the planet's atmosphere; a calamitous situation that she survived by the skin of her teeth.
She scratched a tooth thinking about it, till T’Lars voice pulled her out of her reflective stupor.
T'Lar: So, Commander... You are from Chi-ree. :: It wasn't a question :: I do not believe I have ever met a Vulcan from Xi'al in Starfleet before, let alone Chi-ree. I myself am from Northern Shi'al, near the Tat'Sahr border. I am curious, what brought you to a career aboard a Federation Starship?
Alieth: Response
T'Lar: ::with a raised eyebrow of her own:: Intriguing. My journey here met with some resistance initially, which is why I entered the Academy at an age later than most. ::To Doz:: I find it fascinating that you entered into service not as an officer candidate, but as an enlisted person. I would be interested in hearing about your experience transitioning from the enlisted ranks into the officer corps.
Finch: And I’ll be happy to tell you all about, Ensign T’Lar. Over tea in the Continuum, again, maybe. Or one of the other ones. I’ve got my eye on Sto’Vo’Kor. See if I can convince the bartender to make an English brew for us—he’s a Klingon, apparently. I’ve had my fair share of arguments with Klingon’s, and I’ll bet you it’s an argument I can win.
T’Lar/Alieth: Response
Finch: Join us won't you Commander. Nothing better than when colleagues get together over tea. Though in fairness, I’m sure you’ve got other matters to attend to, rather than mixing with dotty Ensign’s. ::she elbowed T’Lar gently and proffered a wide and wrinkled smile::
T’Lar/Alieth: Response
Finch: Who’s first then on the list of introductions? Speaking of dots, I can see a trill over there with red hair talking to Neathler. And she’s stood next to quite the handsome fella too—bondmates? ::she raised her eyebrows to Alieth and T’Lar, using the same expression impishly::
T’Lar/Alieth: Response
Finch: I could do with a new drink, to be honest, considering mine tastes like carcass. I’ll have a black tea this time. ::she turned to Alieth, without batting an eye:: best to play it safe.
T’Lar/Alieth: Response