Wind in the Sails

Posted on Fri Jan 20th, 2023 @ 1:20am by Mykaia Kylo-Zahn & Curtis Vaan
Edited on on Fri Jan 20th, 2023 @ 1:29am

Mission: Mission 16: Hysperia
Location: The Bar, SS Mary Rose
Timeline: MD-04
1800 words - 3.6 OF Standard Post Measure

"You're very quiet."

It was an unnecessary observation in the sense that it stated the blatantly obvious. In the time since his friend had left them, Curtis had relinquished a decent amount of the conversational impetus and Kaia, who was used to trying to chat to people who didn't really want to say much, still found the transformation baffling. She had offered to let him go work on the malfunctioning holodeck, thinking perhaps that concern and diligence was distracting him, but the other Risian had been quick to decline. Gentle queries about other places he might find interesting hadn't really produced much and so, without wanting to make it seem like she was suddenly pushing forward with Delaney's offer, Kaia had settled on suggesting they check out the state of the bar. After all, if it wasn't currently staffed then at least it might be quiet enough for her to figure out what was wrong with her tour guide.

And so, having slipped into one of the chairs at a small table for two nestled at the back of the small room, Kaia propped her chin in her hand and watched his face as she continued. "You know, if we were back on Risa, I'd be expected to pour you a drink and inundate you with cheerfulness enough to elevate both our sugar levels." There was a wryness to her tone that suggested Kaia was about as much in favour of that as she was pulling out her own fingernails. "I don't think I was really ever any good at that though. It always seemed just easier to ask what the problem was. Your friend got to you." This was a statement, an observation that suggested, at the very least, that she had the social astuteness attributed to their people even if she wasn't prone to over-indulge in the relentless optimism that usually followed.

"She didn't get to me." He said it quickly and instinctively. Then he backed up a step or two and almost seem to notice her for the first time in a few minutes. "I mean...okay, she broke my flow. We were having a moment, and she wandered in and trampled all over it, you know?" His relentless need to self-justify notwithstanding, he hoped deep down that Kaia somehow was entirely on his side. Which may well have been a vain hope.

Kaia considered that for a moment. "I wouldn't say she trampled over it," she reasoned. "Though I did catch that she was teasing you quite a bit. She sounded very much like my brother at times." Empathy softened her smile. "And aren't we still having a moment? I haven't gone anywhere."

Sitting in this manner, facing each other, allowed Kaia every opportunity to pin her fellow Risian with a look of such open, frank curiosity that it seemed improbable that she was the type to be taken in even a little bit by his grandstanding. And yet, her eyes were kind, sympathetic even, and certainly didn't lend her expression the air of one inclined to judge.

"You don't need to try so hard, you know." Like a laser beam, her perceptiveness pierced through some of the charade. "Or worry so much about what people think of you."

"Yes I do," he replied, again very quickly. "Because people are very quick to make assumptions. Especially about Risians." He shrugged. "That requires effort. So, hell yes I have to try hard, and be very aware of what people think about me. Wouldn't want to be stereotyped now, would I?"

A frown that conveyed more consternation than confusion creased Kaia's forehead. She gave his response some thought, however, mulling over the similarities to her own experiences whilst still leaving room to wonder why he was still having those difficulties with a crew he'd been working with for any length of time. It wasn't exactly heartening to think that first impressions could be that stubborn.

"The way I see it," she eventually replied, her tone gentle, "is that you either fit the stereotype or you don't and, in either case, trying to be something that you're not is just exhausting. You don't have to explain this to me, Curtis." Kaia laughed, soft and weary. "Tourists forget that someone is keeping the atmospheric systems running, or teaching the children to read and write, or dealing with all their maintenance requests. And they forget that every culture has its scholars and its architects, as well as its office workers and politicians. They see the side of Risa they want to, the one that fits their purpose for visiting, and they meet those of us who happen to be good at making a profit out of those things. My parents own a resort," she added, pressing a palm to her chest. "My entire life is saturated in this, you certainly don't have to convince me how trivial it all is."

He was forced into an open-mouthed silence, his jaw working as though about to come up with an objection twice before he closed it. She was right. Of course she was right - because she understood the life more than anyone else did. Even Laney, who seemed to get it (or maybe just ignored it), didn't actually talk about the whole Risian stereotype.

"My parents don't own a resort. But they did help run one for a while when I was a kid," he admitted. It felt good to finally accept that he might have more in common with her than simple shared cultural upbringing. Especially one they both seemed keen to shirk. "Y'know, I learned to program in the holosuites there. The only real way I felt like I was doing something for me."

"So working with computers has always been your thing?"

Instantly, and it was quite profound given that she'd been attentive to his ramblings for most of the tour so far in any case, Kaia's focus narrowed to a fixate. Keen eyes studied his expression and the upward lift of her eyebrows promised genuine anticipation of his response. Her fascination with behaviour was a little less removed from the demeanor of a stereotypical Risian but then that was why she was able to chameleon her way through working behind a bar without going crazy.

"Computers don't have big expectations on your future," he replied sharply. "Don't expect you're going to take over the family business...don't care how much you earn, where you spend your time...who you spend your time with..." He released a little sigh. "Listen to me, poster child for desperate."

Kaia's features softened into a familiar smile and she laughed softly, not at his expense but with general empathy born of first-hand experience. "I don't think you sound desperate," she reassured him. "It's actually hard to know what you want and go after it when it's not something the people around you understand." She lifted her eyes to the ceiling and then glanced around the room again. "So how did you end up here?"

"It was a job. Took me away from places I didn't want to be." He just shrugged. "Sorry, it's not exactly a glamorous tale of adventure, with betrayals, chases and wild twists. Just...life." He fiddled with the cup in front of him, eyes distant.

"And there's nothing wrong with that," Kaia reassured him. "There's been nothing overly glamorous about my life since leaving either, except for it finally feeling like my life. I miss home more than I expected," she confided, "but that's more about individual people than whatever it was I was actually doing there." She turned her attention towards the empty bar again, wistful for a moment. "At least you have some stability. Friends. That must be nice."

"Yeah." As much as they drove each other crazy, Laney was a good friend. He didn't have many other close affiliations on the crew. Maybe Nollel, but that was because she was the one telling him what to do most of the time. "Stable, on a ship that seems to get nearly blown up every other week..." His expression relaxed into a more jovial one at last. "The betrayals, chases and wild twists actually started to happen after I got here, thinking about it."

Kaia grinned at that. "Either that or they're just not telling you about all the ones that happened beforehand. Typical recruitment tactic not to air your dirty laundry in front of the new prospects." Which, given that there had been a semi-serious overture towards her considering employment on board herself, made his admission all the funnier to her.

"Guess I'm not doing the sales pitch any good," he agreed. After a moment, he looked over at her. "You know, we're missing a barkeep at the moment. And if you wanted to extend your vacation..." his expression turned pathetically hopeful. "Maybe I could make a new friend?"

"So there really is a vacancy? I was worried.... I mean, I thought maybe your friend had just said it to..." Kaia's sentence trailed off, there hardly seemed any need to say that Delaney had appeared wholly capable of inventing things just to get a rise out of Curtis. Their dynamic still troubled the Risian, who wasn't combative by nature, but she pushed it aside to turn her attention back to the bar. "It is a nice space."

"That it is," he agreed. "And you know, being friends with the barkeep...comes with discounts, right? So it's a win-win for everyone..."

That made her smile, though the expression in Kaia's eyes was more a calculated wistfulness tinged with uncertainty. "Would there be a place for Lyndon, do you think? We're not strictly obliged to remain together and he might not mind being left behind but I'm not sure the locals are quite ready for that."

"I guess. Is he good at anything? Lifting heavy things. Moving heavy things. Looking at heavy things?" Curtis suggested. He hadn't met Lyndon yet, and his mental construction of her brother was leaning towards 'Risian Himbo'. Not based on anything other than his own warped imagination.

"He's probably best suited to security work, honestly, it's what he used to do back at the resort. Whether or not I can convince him to go back into it now that he's had a taste for..." What? Entrepreneurial pursuits? To date, he'd earned his way as a hairdresser, a masseuse and a cook since leaving Risa, now he was running some absurd novelty booth that was creating a minor stir as far as she could tell. "I'll talk to him," she eventually arrived at, her gaze returning to settle on Curtis. "It would be nice to have our next plans in place." She smiled. "And to make a new friend."