A Chance Encounter, Part 2: Talking about Traditions

Posted on Thu Oct 12th, 2023 @ 9:19pm by Thrita sh'Qirhess

1,546 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Deck 10, Ice Lounge
Timeline: MD C7 1700 hours, After Part 1

=/\= On =/\=

"Really? You want to hear about work in Starfleet? I'm sure anyone would be happy to tell you about their jobs, if it's something you are interested in," Shan offered, though he was happy for any reason to keep the conversation going.

"Security, well they man the ship's weapons if we're under attack. Escort away teams on pretty much every mission. Watch out for security threats. More senior officers advise the Captain on all kinds of stuff. We just invited a bunch of Orions to tour our ship a few weeks ago. I'm sure security was all up in their business, but they weren't that obvious about it."

"One thing we all know is that Starfleet is a dangerous job, regardless of what department you work in. But Security, they are the ones running toward the danger, while most of us have the privilege of falling back from it." Great, Shan thought to himself. Now he made himself sound like one of the cowards of Starfleet. But why was he allowing himself to care... It wasn't fair to her. Was it? He should have just made a damn decision already.

"I know what you mean about family pressure though," Shan offered tentatively. "Our parents didn't pressure us so much about our careers, but there are definitely some traditions that are lingering that I'm not so sure about." He felt his heart race now that he had started to broach the subject. He had told a few people on the Columbia about his dilemma and hadn't had this reaction. There was something about her .

"My thavan is so into tradition," Thrita groaned, referring to Ryhl. "We celebrated every little holiday and day of remembrance." She felt curiosity as to which traditions left him concerned."

Thrita looked up warmly to him. "Like what?" Her tone was excited, almost as if she was already trying not to laugh alongside Shan's response.

Shan changed his mind about telling her. They were having too much fun to get serious. "Oh definitely holidays, mostly my shreya and charan. They both teach at the Military Academy so they can be home with my brother until he leaves home. But will be going back to the Imperial Guard in a few years."

"I've been terrible about getting back since joining Starfleet. Maybe once Kaamin leaves home, the pressure won't be as bad." Shan smiled at her. He widened his posture a bit so that his arms took up a little more space. Inching closer toward her.

Thrita nodded as he talked. There was one specific tradition Ryhl had been pestering her about. She was set to marry into an assigned bond group. Captain th'Zeles could be very persistent. Thrita often felt the brunt of this, especially when it came to matters of tradition.

The officer was supposedly joining the ship soon or something. Thrita never paid attention to Ryhl when he spoke about marriage.

"I've been aching to get away from home", she said about Andoria. "I feel like I've barely left the system... If so, only to mine.. Like, what?! We're so deep out in space, right now..."

She had never been as far out as Campor III. Something the Andorian male said had stood out to her. He referred to his sibling as brother, even though they had previously used gender based familial titles for other kin.

"So.. Brother, huh? Big family? Diverse family?" Thrita was curious if his sibling might be part off-worlder.

"A very standard, traditional Andorian family," Shan said, punctuating each word with a nod of his head like someone might do when falling asleep during a presentation. "Very Traditional." He added for emphasis. "My zhavey and thavan are both in Starfleet actually. Three siblings, so there are four of us. That was the plan - at least four. The other two are older than me," he said taking a drink of his synthehol and wishing he had ordered something stronger.

"My zhi is a medical doctor on Andoria - the pride and joy of the family. Settled into the bond group our parents arranged for her and has two children already. The other middle child Mivek is in the Imperial Guard." Shan sighed. "Kaamin, well... he's chan. But he keeps telling our parents that when he's of age, he's leaving behind the gender prefix, and just join Starfleet as a male, and date one person at a time. And well... He's thrown the parents and Naalisha for a loop," he said laughing a little. He looked at her to see if she would laugh with him or if the story was mortifying to her.

Thrita listened intently as he spoke, blinking often as she looked up into his eyes. She began to smile upon mention of his brother. "Kaamin sounds awesome," she said with a squeaky laugh. "I wish I could just cast off the system.. I dunno. It's complex. I want a bond group and everything.. I just wish I could pick who it was with." She looked away, anxiety reminding her of her pending marriage.

"I only have one brother," Thrita added while looking over to a glowing crystal tower. "Two years younger. He's all into the whole Starfleet thing already." A weak smile replaced her anxiety.

"What are your thoughts towards bonding? Are you pledged to a group?" Thrita returned her curious gaze to Shanir.

Shan let out a defeated sigh. "Not pledged... my parents made arrangements for all of us when we were in our early teens. It's something that's been bothering me a lot lately. I don't know anything about them. How can you just pledge to raise a family with people you don't know?" He asked.

"Maybe Starfleet is rubbing off on me, but I want to feel something for someone before all of that." He felt himself blushing as he admitted that. "None of us have talked to one another. I haven't made an effort either... I guess I'm not sure I want to know." Shan felt a sickening feeling in his stomach as he thought about choosing between his own happiness or disappointing his parents, and maybe the people anticipating a bond group with him.

Thrita could sense his uneasiness, partially due to her keen Thalassan antennae which scanned his body chemistry. She slid a hand along his back, rubbing reassuringly. "I'm in the same situation," she said. "I've been going out of my way to avoid people."

Her hand fell to her side as she blew hair from out of her eye. "I mean.. It's like I feel like my partners will all be thrown into my life soon and there's nothing I can do about it." She crossed her arms and looked away, thinking of Ryhl. Why couldn't he just let her find her own way?

"Well.. At least it's nice to meet somebody new," she said as she looked back deeply into his eyes.. "Without any labels." A flirtatious glance rested above turquoise-tinted cheekbones. "Or anything..." She reached over to rest a hand on his knee.

Shan let his eyes fall to the hand on his knee, fighting the urge to smile too obviously. He swallowed and took a deep breath, her touch incited something in him. The feelings he was worried wouldn't be there if he were forced into some prearranged marriage.

He nervously placed his hand on top of hers. He wasn't sure what to say. "I'd ask you if you want to go for a walk, but the weather is terrible out there," he said, his eyes dancing with laughter.

She laughed, knowing the cooler climate in Ice was nicer to Andorians than the ship's standard conditions. "I'd love to go for a walk," she said excitedly, squeezing his hand. "I haven't seen all of the arboretum yet. My..." She paused. "Another Andorian I know has been planting crops from our homeworld there."

She almost said father. Thrita determined she would try to go as long as possible without mentioning that Ryhl was her father. She thought it might intimidate him.

Neither person realized they were each part of the bondgroup that they were avoiding. Both seemed to carry a thirst for being known for who they were.

Thrita quickly finished her drink and started to stand. "Shall we?"

Shan was glad she seemed to want to spend more time with him too. "Great idea," Shan said. "There's a lot going on there to see. I don't know if I've even see it all yet."

"I never imagined I'd be on a ship like this," she said as she stood, taking his hand in hers. Thrita lead him towards the door, pulling as she walked. She looked up to him as they spoke.

Shan followed, not really thinking just excited to be spending more time with this thrilling and attractive shen he had just met. The weight of what they were just talking about leaving his mind for the first time in several months. Each time she looked at him with her violet eyes he became even more lost in her - wanting to know her mystery.

Shanir and Thrita continued to speak as the doors closed behind them.


Ensign Shanir "Shan" th'Kaasnik
Ops Officer
USS Columbia

Thrita sh'Qirhess
USS Columbia

RSS Feed