Personal Stuff

Posted on Sat Aug 17th, 2024 @ 7:07am by Dodai Yaari & Theodore Winslow (*)

Mission: Shackles
Location: Bridge
Timeline: Current
2399 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Theo was not sure how he had ended up doing bridge duties with the new guys but there he was keeping an eye on ship traffic. “So what did you do to end up stuck with bridge duty with me and not Indigo?” He wondered finally as it reached a second hour of not much conversation between the pair. The former security chief had no issue with silence but he could only keep it so long before he needed to speak up and ask the burning question he had, had for weeks since learning that the woman he had thought was his age was 100’s of years older and married.

For all his rather laconic ways, Dodai wasn't adverse to making new connections. Many seemed fleeting, of course, and would have still seemed such had he made any effort to maintain contact for any decent length of time, but accepting the simplicity of his own company did not necessarily mean he found other's objectionable. In his own way, he was rather looking forward to getting to know Indigo's latest family, even if initial introductions had a pair of daggers lodged firmly in the back of his head whenever Taev was in the room. The difficulty so far was that very few of them seemed to have established social routines that put them in a communal space at a time conducive to bonding. If he didn't know better, with the exception of Zahn who had proven to be almost ridiculously grateful to have someone around willing to chat, Dodai would have said they were all avoiding him.

Arms folded across his chest, he leaned against the console he was reputedly in charge of and considered his duties adequately executed by occasionally glancing sideways to make sure they weren't about to fly into anything unpleasant. Otherwise poised as if to enjoy the view, he glanced across at the much younger man and hitched an eyebrow. "I think the intent is probably that you keep a firm eye on me."

Theo raised an eyebrow at the realisation that he might be correct. "Well... I do not believe I am a good babysitter. I have not really spoken to you in the last hour or before now really." He inclined his head in an apology. He had been adjusting to his new role on the ship himself the last couple of months which had left him isolated until Indigo had kicked his ass into shaper better.

"I hadn't noticed."

There was a twinkle in Dodai's eye, one that suggested a degree of mirth without clear distinction. If he was teasing the man, it seemed in good faith, mostly lacking in sarcasm and promptly followed up by a good natured, "If it's any consolation, I am not a very good baby, though my wife may have something to say about that. She generally does." Once again, there was something about the way the man intentionally referenced his relationship to Indigo that presented more as an attempt to wave a red flag at the elephant in the room than to boast. Such was Dodai in one of his better moods that he seemed perpetually engaged in his own private joke.

“She does have a lot of opinions.” The man said gently as he looked at the console in front of him and sat back down. “But I am not your babysitter. You do what you want.” He was not the type to shit stir and he was not at all interested in keeping an eye on someone who had centuries on him.

The trouble with being around other people, Dodai mused, was that he invariably ended up feeling mischievous. Solitude reaped its own rewards but there was only yourself to make fun of and he'd memorised all the punchlines decades ago. A more kindly frame of mind acknowledged that Theo wasn't intending to be taken literally but the El Aurian still found himself wondering just what the boy's superiors would think if he stood back and let the newcomer entertain himself by any means possible. Quite likely it would involve more trouble than it was worth but Dodai filed it away as an interesting observation about Theo's choice of expression.

Inclined to behave himself, if only for now, the much older man shifted his weight just enough to scoot himself into a more comfortable position still leaning against the console, and squinted ahead at the viewport. "Where are we going exactly?"

"Meeting up with another group to swap some stuff over," Theo said with a shrug. It was all he knew about it all, he had not been onboard long enough to know all the details. He just knew that he was doing enough good in the universe to balance out the bad that he felt he had done despite his best efforts.

As far as explanations went, it was about as vague as they came. Dodai raised his eyebrows but made no comment, reading enough between the lines to surmise that either Theo considered this a routine job or he had no actual idea what the mission was. It seemed an interesting way to run an operation, the needs-to-know mentality would have applied to anyone on a ship headed into a situation, logic suggested, because it wasn't as if they could be somewhere else whilst negotiations went down. Dodai filed the implied secrecy away as a possibility and returned to regarding the starfield.

The silence came back but the younger man let it settle for a moment before he spoke up again. “What about you, what led you here?” He wondered deciding to get to know the man seeing he was there. It was not his usual route as the man most of the time found himself as the loner but he was desperate to change that mentality.

It had already been well-established that the vague, though entirely truthful, explanation for Dodai's sudden reappearance in Indigo's life wasn't going to go down well with this crew of literal-minded folk. He'd been honestly surprised that she'd bothered to try and frame it in a way that they'd understand, since it was rare for those outside their species to grasp the rather esoteric nature of El Aurian bonding. Dodai certainly wasn't confident that this young man would have a much better opinion of it than his superiors and so he lifted a shoulder in casual dismissal and redefined it as, "Once in a while, I show up to keep her on her toes."

Theo was not stupid he did not at all believe that as a reason but he had heard so many different reasons that did not fit what he knew of Indigo. "I do not believe that Indigo likes that so either you are a glutton for punishment or you might love her enough to risk it." The man stated. He knew that his views of the universe were very black and white but sometimes when the people he cared about were threatened he turned it grey.

A smile tugged one corner of Dodai's mouth into a faint smirk. "A little from both columns," he replied, not at all disturbed by the revelation that emotion played a part in his decisions. To those unfamiliar with the way his people chose to live, it seemed understandably like estrangement for a bonded couple to spend over a decade living almost entirely separate lives, but he and Indigo had lived just as many periods sharing space as they had exploring in solitude. "Which may or may not be a less interesting reason than your own." It was an indirect way of asking, but Dodai preferred to leave the option to avoid disclosure entirely if desired.

"Whatever works for you both." He said simply. Indigo was a friend but he never for a moment thought of herself as having people out there that she was more bonded to than anything else on the ship. It was an odd feeling to have your worldview tipped upside down about someone. "I have heard rumours but I had no firm idea. I did not even know she was married. She looks younger than me." He laughed.

This time, the smile that crinkled Dodai's eyes was entirely without hidden subtext. "Relatively speaking, she's still young enough. Though wise, oh so very wise." This was said with a wink, and the kind of glib roguishness of one who was just covering his bases lest someone overhear him. "If it helps, you could consider me a reoccurring malady she occasionally has to suffer until it clears up. Not uncomfortable enough that the extra bed-rest isn't pleasant but eventually stifling enough that the fresh scent of freedom once it's over revitalises the soul." He was teasing, of course, but since he expected the crew to talk and for word to get back to Indigo, there was every reason to make sure she wasn't disappointed.

"She admitted she was over 300 years old but she looks about 20 from my planet. But it does explain a lot." The human admitted with a smile as he shook his head as the man continued speaking and winked at him. He really did not need to know what the pair got up to even if married. He had been married himself but he did not know if he could ever be that comfortable in a relationship to come and go as he pleased.

"And where is 'your planet', young Theo?" It was a direct query because Dodai could see that the human seemed to communicate in fairly blunt terms and any expectation that he pick up on vague inference was likely to result in disappointment. It was also an opportunity to acknowledge his faint humour at the man's fixation on external age indicators, though he filed away Theo's obvious investment in Indigo's appearance as an unwise conversation to take up with his wife rather than something to subject the man himself to.

The young man in question winced at the question as he knew he would labelled as soon as he mentioned where he was from despite trying to get out from under the ultra-religious upbringing his planet had attempted on him. "New Roanoke." He said finally looking away to fiddle with the console in front of him.

There was silence enough that Dodai at least demonstrated respect for what the disclosure clearly cost the man. As far as personal opinion went, it tended to only show up when warranted and it took a great deal of convincing for the far-older man to ever consider his own perspective to be pivotal enough to be shared. There was nothing strained about his hesitation, at least, it simply allowed time for the tension to take the form of something that could be addressed. "This is quite a sea change for you then."

The silence was deafening to the younger man but he did not fill it. He knew better and he also knew that people were entitled to their own opinion on his home world. He had left it because of it all but it was hard to shift the shadow of it all. “Had over a decade of it with Starfleet and then all of this.” He indicated the space around them to highlight what he meant. “I prefer being out in space compared to New Roanoke. It did not suit me.”

"Have you no mind to seek somewhere that does?"

As happened so often, despite Dodai's willingness to allow others to exist without his input, there was the sensation of a gradual pull towards divulgences. His people, in general, had a habit of encouraging others to speak up even if there was no specific intent. From the way Theo spoke of Indigo, Dodai reasoned that he had probably already found this about her, drawn like the veritable moth to the flame. People who carried around heavy burdens tended to cling fast to the rare opportunity to relieve themselves of them.

"Here is as good as anywhere." He shrugged. He wanted to do good in the universe and the Fenris Rangers allowed him to do that. "It suits me enough until either my leave runs out or I find Starfleet changed enough for my tastes again." Starfleet was just not what he thought it was thanks to him being accused of the bombing, anyone with 2 brain cells could have seen the faults in the investigation but it had taken far longer than needed to untaint him and by that time some things had stuck. When he had tried to change postings he had ended up somewhere that resented his lack of rank despite it being where he had been sent as he had been the best for the job.

"Here is usually as good as anywhere," Dodai agreed, swinging the pendulum towards a hint of philosophy before letting it dangle back and forth without reinforcement. A bleep from the console beside him saw the El Aurian lean sideways a little to check the readouts he was ostensibly in charge of and, after a moment of trying to read them sideways, he added, "And it looks like 'here' is not too far from where our exchange of stuff is expected to go down." Dodai craned his head forward to fix his security guard with a quizzical eyebrow. "Do we ring a bell or are we expected to handle negotiations ourselves? I am a dab hand at procuring extra portions of dessert, if that's of any use."

"Not sure we need extra dessert. I will get Kaylin up." Theo decided with a smirk at the man, deciding the man was alright. He could actually see himself as a friend of the man if he stayed around long enough. "Dodai... thanks for trying to talk to me like a normal person." He said with a shy smile before he turned away to make the call that would wake the woman up to do the negotiations.

The flick of a casual salute, no official denomination, was Dodai's way of downplaying the need for gratitude. He filed Theo's impulse for it as an interesting reflection on current crew dynamics, however, and left the case file open for now. Of more pressing interest was the impending front-row seat to Romulan negotiation tactics.

Perhaps it was time to invest in a popcorn dispenser.