SIM:Personal Demons

((Corridor, USS Apollo))

Ensign Vincent Pierce had just recently returned to the ship from rescuing a shuttle that was abandoned on the surface of the planet of which the Apollo remained in orbit. He had had a rather busy day, the only time he had to relax was right after he reported for duty and he hadn’t realized how tired he was until now.

Once he finally had a moment to think, he realized what the date was, March 30th. A date that will forever remain in his memory and not for positive reasons. It was on this date that Rygel VII, the colony on which he grew up, was attacked by Orion slavers who kidnapped all the colonists who would fetch them a nice price and murdered the rest. His mother was one of the rest.

Pierce prepared himself for the inevitable onslaught of unpleasant, angry thoughts that would proliferate inside his mind for the next few hours as he reminisced about his family and friends that were now lost to him

He needed a drink.

As Pierce walked aimlessly down the corridor until he noticed a pair of doors with large windows on them, labelled “Complex 39”. He heard the sound of chatter and laughter, and assumed that this was some sort of mess hall.

((Complex 39, USS Apollo))

Pierce walked into the room and saw a large amount of people. Most gathered around tables which were arranged along the long windows which overlooked the planet the Apollo currently orbited. On the other end of the room was a long bar area with stools, a number of which were empty. Since Pierce didn’t know many people on the ship yet, he opted to sit on one of the stools at the bar.

When he sat down the barkeep asked him what he would like, Pierce just asked for a plain, dry scotch. It was a plain, dry scotch kind of evening. He drank his scotch with the firm intention of being alone for the entire time. Then someone walked in, the kind of person he did not expect to see on a Starfleet ship, let alone the ship he was serving on: an Orion.

Sherana had another long day behind her. Not only to do her work, but also had she seen the most unusual things like an officer stuck in a maintenance shaft. She still was not sure who that had been, but he certainly had not been the usual officer aboard a Starfleet ship. She thought he could have easily served upon a Klingon ship, nobody there had a sunshine and rainbow attitude.

Now she had returned to the Complex, another box of fruits and vegetables in her hand, since most of the delivery she had brought earlier became the victim of Tao’s attempt to make that kind of Hasperat that the Bajoran Engineer would enjoy. It had taken quite a few tries and resources. What a luck for the host, that Sherana always planted too much and still had a few reserves.

The Orion wore her usual attire, the bulky wide clothing to hide any signs of femininity, barricading any hint of curve behind the loose working pants with a lot of pants for tools and the like on the sides and a woolen sweater that must had been at least three numbers too big. The working boots just rounded the whole look, with its counterpart on her had, a hat to cover her hair, apart from the ponytail in the back.

Heading into the Complex she noticed that it was not empty. that meant to just hurry in, deliver the box and leave again, instead of any talk with Tao. Though that woman would possibly try to hug her again and Sherana would not mind to escape that. What an awkward gesture when it was not combined with some hitting on the shoulder for a congratulatory moment. She walked to the bar and shoved the box with a flowing motion onto the counter.

Sherana: Delivery for the kitchen!

She simply announced her purpose, the barkeep acknowledged her presence and brought the box to its intended destination, while Sherana turned to leave again, just to see that to eyes were upon her. A stranger, though on a ship of that size not really a surprise. She could not interpret the look he gave her, almost as if he was willing to slit her throat right here. Of course that was not possible. He did not know her and from the few things she had heard about the people who she had to thank for her green skin, Orion females were a pleasant company. Not that Sherana would understand any of that. But this look was unnerving, so very unexpected.

Sherana: Do I have soil in my face? ::Maybe that was the reason he looked at her and the rest was pure imagination. .oO That must be it Oo.

Pierce’s snarl turned into a look of contempt. When Sherana asked him a question, he was unsure how to respond. He turned his head and faced forward, trying his best to ignore her. After taking a gulp from his glass of scotch and with forceful resentment, he said simply:

V Pierce: No

She pulled her brow up slightly, meeting the hem of her hat. The tone of his voice made her wonder if her dismissive reaction to her thoughts was a little too hasty. She turned to him fully, her dark eyes looking into his without hesitation.

Sherana: Then.. have we met and I forgot?

Pierce took another swig of Scotch and set his glass, still half-full, on the table. The anger inside of him was growing, boiling like a pot of water on a stove. As he got more heated, the anger boiled evermore until it reached a critical point. Vincent decided that it would be prudent to extricate himself from the situation before his anger reached that point.

Pierce got up and almost made it to the doorway. Almost.

Sherana looked after him, confused about that reaction. She could not remember ever meeting that man, though his reaction to her was, as if she had and in that meeting offended him somehow. Did she once fight against him? She pulled her brows together trying to remember. Her dark gaze wandered as she thought about it and saw that his glass had a considerable amount of fluids in it.

She never was one for wasting a good drink and while she could just have taken it for herself, according to Tao’s attempts in bringing any social customs closer to Sherana that was considered rude. Hesitating for just a moment she had grabbed the glass and stepped after the man.

Sherana: You forgot your drink. It would be a shame to waste it.

Pierce turned around to face Sherana. All his efforts to contain his anger seemed to go to waste. In a fit of anger, he slapped the drink out of her hand and went crashing down on the floor, shattering into numerous pieces.

The gaze of the Orion woman followed the movement of the glass, seeing the shards of the shattered beverage on the rug. She was quite sure that Tao would not be happy about it, just after that she wondered why the man had done that. She raised her eyes to look at him, her face not showing any expression, in contrast to the dark brown orbs that shone in confusion.

Suddenly, the complex went quiet and in a strong voice, fueled by fiery emotion, Pierce bellowed.

V Pierce: I don’t care about the drink and I don’t want to be be your friend. Just stay away from me, Orion!

With that, Pierce stormed out of The Complex, searching for somewhere to vent his anger.

The woman stood there, her hand was still extended from the offering, her eyes on the closing doors of the complex. .oO What in Kahless name did just happen? Oo. If she had thought that his action of obviously denying the offer with destroying the glass and wasting the Scotch was confusing her, this topped it by a lot.:

Since she had left Quono’s she had been worried about people judging her for being a warrior, for her Klingon upbringing, because the wars in the past and the tension at present. She had hidden it, did not talk about it much so she would not be judged and accused of being a murderer or a spy.

And now she stood here and she was being judged, quite obviously, because he was angry at her, without ever meeting her. But not for being Klingon, the culture, way of life and customs she grew up with that were in her heart and soul. No, she was judged for something she did not know anything about. For something she did not feel even being part of her, the color of her skin she had wanted to shed so often while she’d been at home. For something she did not know what it meant. For being Orion. And she had no idea how to deal with it.

Sherana blinked a few times finding back to herself before she headed back to the bar and got something to take care of that mess. After all, Tao would hate seeing someone step into glass shards.

PNPC Sherana Caelin

Botanist

USS Apollo, NCC-71669

as simmed by

Lieutenant Jalana Laxyn

Chief Medical Officer

USS Apollo, NCC-71669

and

Ensign Vincent Pierce

Intelligence Officer

USS Apollo, NCC-71669