[sb118-valkyrie] JP: Lieutenant Is'Kah Xiron and Lieutenant JG Ghee'looth Xiron - Festival of Light -Laws Part 1
Colgin
((Nor’shalgah Neighborhood, Harbortown, Equatorial Provence, Andoria))
The swirling silvery light of the transport completed its cycle. Ghee now stood on the platform of the transporter station at the East end of the neighborhood she grew up in. Local time was just late afternoon, and several port workers returning home from their shift pushed past her and Is’Kah to their homes for the holiday weekend. Taking Is’Kah by the hand, she stepped off the platform and led her spouse to the sidewalk.
A wide grin crossed Is’Kah’s face while following zhen partner from the station. Since visiting Denali, Zha had wanted to visit Ghee’s home, but that might have been from the drunken mind meld. Zha felt zhen spouse's nerves mixed with joy from showing the mischief pixie where they had grown up.
The neighborhood, like most of the core worlds of the Federation, was safe but still held the eclectic charms of its working-class past and proximity to the oldest Terran expat settlement in the world, Little Chicago. The area was laid out in lane after lane of three to four-story townhouses belonging to the various clans.
Ghee looked up at the sky for a moment to see Andor, in all its late-day anger, painting the sky in oranges and purples as it and the Andorian sun were about to set. As they left the transporter station, the street lamps came on.
At the bottom of several stone steps, an Andorian thaan sat on an open-air three-wheeled vehicle with a small sidecar. Ghee instantly recognized him as Ketch’looth, a cousin from one of her Zhavey line. He was a young man barely past school age and sat on the vehicle with as much authority as his years and look would give him.
Xiron: Look my family sent a coach.::Her antennae bounced with mirth.
Ketch’looth: Cousin, Welcome home.::He climbs off the vehicle to help secure the ladies bags.
Is’Kah: It is a mighty fine coach, sh’za.
Ghee handed him her small fleet bag along with Is’Kah’s gear. Ketch’looth secured them on a rack behind his seat on the vehicle. He remounted the three-wheeled vehicle and gestured to the sidecar. Xiron moved into the sidecar, pushing herself as far to the back as possible, allowing Is’Kah to move to her lap. Settling in, the Vulcan hybrid listened to the pair speak, a lopsided grin on her face.
Ghee: So, Aunt Va got you the Kardola clan porter job?
Ketch’looth: What can I say? I am her favorite.
Ghee: She just does not want her baby boy working the orbital yards like the rest of the family.
Ketch’looth just wagged his antennae in mock annoyance. Once strapped in, the young Andorian driver pushed down on his throttle. The old vehicle made a hard grunting sound and then shot forward through the suburban streets.
The vehicle sped by home after home, occasionally taking a precarious turn. It was early evening now, and young children played in the small yards in front of their homes. Other middle-aged Andorians walked down the sidewalks, taking in the last sunlight Andoria would see for nearly a week.
Minutes after leaving the station, the trike turned onto Oorah Lane and stopped in front of the home Ghee grew up in. Each home on the lane was considered clan land, with multiple generations living on the different floors. Over many generations, the complex intermarriage of clans into the Andorian traditional four-person marriage made for an extremely complex line of genealogy and title to each home even though every townhome on this street was Oorah clan land, members of over a dozen clans residing in apartments in each home.
Ketch’looth dismounted the vehicle, helped Is’Kah out of the sidecar, and repeated the action for Ghee.
Ghee::Taking Is’Kah’s hand:: Are you ready, Zh’yi?
Is’Kah: I am more than ready, Sh’za. This can’t be worse than fighting the Borg, can it?
They walked up the sidewalk to the front entrance, a large red door with a traditional Andorian mechanical pull handle. Ghee paused at the door, realizing how long she had been away. She was unsure if she should ring the chime or just let herself in.
Ketch’looth, holding the ladies’ bags, took the momentary dilemma away from her by letting himself in. He clumsily squeezed past Ghee and Is’Kah, juggling their bags to one arm as he worked the manual door latch.
The next few moments were a frenetic blur of cousins and siblings, aunts and uncles, everyone greeting Ghee and Is’Kah in a flurry of introductions, questions about Frontier Day, and inane gossip about unknown distant relatives.
Ghee worried about her pixie of a partner and how she would hold up. She caught her Charan and Zhavey off by the entrance to the kitchen giving her a look of apology. Ghee’s Shreva, Adaiza, waded through the throng like a harbor breaker through the ice. She pulled both ladies by their hands over to Ghee’s parents. The rest of the family began to dissipate.
Adaiza turned to Ghee and knelt her head forward until her forehead was against Ghee’s. The mother and daughter’s antennae touched just below the cups.
Adaiza: Thank you for returning my brave, shidei.
Ghee blushed a light purple at hearing the traditional greeting from her very non-traditional mother.
Turning to Is’Kah, she bent forward to get low enough to bring her forehead to Is’Kah’s. The skin-to-skin contact allowed the hybrid to let zhen mental antennae brush in the appropriate spot, just below the cups. The hybrid’s tone had a hint of ritual to it when zha spoke.
Is’Kah: Shreva, I have fulfilled my duty to guide my sh’za to the light of Andor.
Turning to Is’Kah, she bent forward to get low enough to bring her forehead to Is’Kah’s. The skin-to-skin contact allowed the hybrid to project zhen mental antennae brush in the appropriate spot, just below the cups. Before the older Andorian could speak, Is’Kah started the ritual instead.
Adaiza: Thank you for bringing her home my brave, zhri’za.
The moment hung in the air as she straightened up.
Adaiza: Is’Kah, it is good to see you again. I hope our Andorian hospitality has not spooked you.
Is’Kah: No, shreva. My family could never spook me.
Adaiza took Ghee by the shoulder and led her off. Ghee’s Thavan father followed the other two, stopping to pat Is’Kah on the shoulder.
Ghee’garie: Good job on Frontier Day, Lieutenant.::He smiled letting her know he was not that formal:: We will talk more once you are settled in.
Is’Kah: Please, just Is’Kah. Rank does not exist between family.
Ghee’looth: He just finds it amusing.
Mir’looth, Ghee’s Zhavey mother, stayed behind. Her friendly but unyielding smile seemed out of character for Andorian body language.
Mir’looth: Oh, my dear zhri’za. It is so good to see you again, we barely got to speak before the wedding. Ghee tells me you are quite the cook. ::A large motherly arm moved over Is’Kah’s shoulder.
The petite hybrid nodded while a grin crossed her face.
Is’Kah: I do my best to keep my sh’za fed and happy.
Slowly, Mir’looth guided Is’Kah into the kitchen. The space was large. It served as a common food prep area for the four families that occupied the home. Against one wall was a line of alien appliances, and against the opposite were several prep areas. The long room terminated at a large brick oven and a pile of gray wood logs to fuel it. A dozen Andorians, mostly zhen, were moving about, working on chopping, stirring, grilling, and mashing various parts of the holiday meal.
Is’Kah’s eyes went wide at the sight of the kitchen, rushing around as they did their prep. She was looking forward to cooking with the other zhen’s as they should be very chatty bunch instead of Vulcan clan meetings. No one talked unless they needed something, making what should be a social event into something bland.
Mir’looth: Most days, I only whip up small meals. Most of the family tries to get all their meals from the replicator. But this is the Light Festival, and I am hosting the whole block.
Chief of Tactical and Security
USS Valkyrie, NCC-16418-A
R240101I14
Pronouns:
She/Her (Player and Character)
Zha/Zhen (Character)
and
Lieutenant JG Ghee’looth Xiron
Acting Chief Engineer
USS Valkyrie-A
D240010GX2