Ensign Lyra Voss: Home Again, Home Again
Sarah Terry
((Outside Sickbay, Deck 503, Starbase 118))
As she stood outside of sickbay, she once again had that strange, nagging, déjà vu-kind-of-feeling she’d been experiencing every time she went somewhere the Other Lyra had been. Four years ago Lyra, who wasn’t ever really here, but had somehow shown up anyway. And she was proud of her! Four years ago had been a rough time, but she… well… her, or… one of her… they’d done all right. It was just a bizarre thing to have to… reintegrate.
She’d been looking forward to a nice, relaxing shore leave, but that was only because, with all the madness the station had experienced, she hadn’t properly realized it was already March. Almost mid-March. When she saw the message from her mother waiting at her terminal this morning, her stomach had dropped all the way to the floor and down through several decks below. Fana’ro Vestus.
It hadn’t been far from her mind when she’d gone back to sickbay for a check-in to make sure her brain was staying properly unscrambled, and it wasn’t far from her mind currently as she chatted with Ryden who also happened to be on his way out of sickbay when she was leaving. They were swapping stories from the previous mission.
Voss: There has to be, like… security footage or something! You standing between S’zurak and Nagazi, trying to get them both to stand down! ::she laughed:: Four above, sounds terrifying.
Sylvax: ?
She crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall.
Voss: Yeah, I would be very excited to never be that close to a cyclone again. Especially *on* the station.
Her words trailed off just a bit, and she should have known better than to try to hold back what she was feeling from a fellow empath.
Sylvax: ?
Voss: ::shaking her head:: Oh, no, it’s nothing… I was just looking forward to getting a chance to properly relax, but it’s almost the equinox, so I have to head home for Vestus or my mother will kill me. ::not seeing the level of recognition she was expecting:: For Fana’ro Vestus - the spring festival?
Sylvax: ?
She remembered a bit of their conversation from the last shore leave - how different it must have been for a half-Betazoid growing up on Trill, surrounded by Trill customs.
Voss: It’s a huge, three-day affair on Betazed. Bonfires, street fairs, performances on every corner, giant parties - *especially* among the Houses. By the time I get home, there’ll already be a tent up on the lawn so big it’ll look like the circus is in town.
As Ryden started to respond, another person walked up to their conversation. Lyra was a little surprised to see Commander McLaren in front of them. She hadn’t interacted much with the commander off-duty - a tiny bit at the end of the last awards ceremony, but Evan had been there too - and she had to hold herself back from awkwardly saluting or something. Even without it, she unconsciously stood up a little straighter.
McLaren: ?
Voss: Oh, Commander! ::Sol? Solaris? S’zurak called her “Spymaster,” which was really fun, but Lyra didn’t think she could get away with that:: Hi! We, uh… we were just talking about shore leave. I don’t suppose you’ve ever celebrated Vestus?
McLaren: ?
Voss: Ah, well… it… it’s one of the oldest holidays on Betazed. Day one is bonfires to burn away anything that isn’t serving you anymore, get rid of all the crap from the previous year. Day two is street fairs, performances, live theatre - everything new and innovative and fresh. And day three is just… a giant party. Technically it represents peace and stability and the ::big air quotes:: *generosity of the noble Houses,* but yeah, that translates to Big Party.
Sylvax/McLaren: ?