Splish Splash

Posted on Fri Sep 18th, 2020 @ 9:17am by Ensign George Paxton & NVeid tr'Rehu

Mission: Character Development
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: evening
1601 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

It had been a while since he'd been able to give in to such a strenuous exercise. Nveid ploughed through the water with strong strokes, diving when he reached the opposite side of the pool then pushing off of the wall as hard as he could to go back into the opposite direction. Being under water generally meant silence, drowning out all the emotions of others that battered against his mental defenses all day. Meditation did help and of course he had sufficient control, under normal circumstances, to have it not bother him.

Today was different, for some reason he felt off today, not himself. He was glad Jarron was not here with him right now, he knew the boy would only be worried for his father, and he couldn't have that happen. No child should ever have to worry about its parent, did it? He had lost track of how many laps he'd swam by now, but he was sure it were quite a few. He was also sure that, since he hadn't been doing this for a while, he'd probably pay for it in the morning.

George had reserved some holodeck time and was looking forward to starting his favorite beach program and relaxing on the shore. He’d spent the last half hour of his shift crawling around in the jefferies tube which set off his claustrophobia and now he needed some open space and artificial sunlight. After putting on his favorite set of board shorts and shirt, he grabbed a towel and headed for Holodeck 2 on Deck 7.

Um, why is there a pool in what should be my empty holodeck? George wondered as he walked into the room fully expecting to be greeted by a black and gold grid. He walked closer to the pool as Nveid surfaced and awkwardly waved hoping to catch his attention.

The visibly Romulan male caught movement from the corner of his eyes just as he prepared to dive and turn for his next lab. Instead, he surfaced. "Feel free to join in," he said, mistaking the towel and shorts for someone who was looking for a swim as well. He sensed the confusion, but had nothing to connect the feeling to so he dismissed it.

“Uh, I think there’s been….” George couldn’t finish his sentence before the Romulan dived back below the water’s surface. He didn’t want to go back to his quarters. They weren’t terribly small, but the holographic pool area was a seemingly much larger space and the thought of being anywhere less open at the moment just caused the anxiety to creep back in.

Letting out a small sigh of disappointment in not getting to lounge by the beach, George set down his towel and removed his shirt and crocs. Crocs were an ancient earth shoe that someone had told him about a few years back. When he initially replicated a pair, he was taken aback at how unfashionable they looked, but he couldn’t deny how comfortable they felt and they had quickly become his go to shoes for the beach, despite the looks he got when wearing them.

The water was cool, but refreshing as he entered the pool. Immediately the anxiety from today’s earlier bout of claustrophobia started to dissipate and a relaxed smile started to creep across George’s face. He made his way to the wall to start swimming, but paused to watch the Romulan. Certainly an impressive swimmer, George thought before diving under and starting his first lap.

Surfacing on his return lap, the Romulan smiled, pausing for the other man to reach him. "I see you decided to join me," he said, offering a slight bow but not offering his hand in greeting. "NVeid tr'Rehu," he introduced himself.

George started to extend his hand, but then stopped when NVeid didn’t do the same and awkwardly returned his bow instead. “George Paxton,” he replied. “Your swim program is pretty close to what I was planning to do anyways.” He wasn’t entirely truthful, but didn’t want to be rude and NVeid was clearly a talented swimmer so he didn’t want to ruin his fun. “Nice pool you’ve selected. Do, uh, you come here often?” He asked.

"Daily if I can," Nveid answered, "usually for about an hour and normally either late in the evening, or early in the morning." Naturally, he could sense the deception and studied the man for a moment. "What were you planning to do?" he asked curiously as he easily treaded water to keep himself above the surface.

“I have a beach program that I like, I probably would’ve gotten in the water and swam around at some point,” George responded at least somewhat truthfully. Either way it no longer mattered to him as the anxiety had washed away and he felt like he could function normally again. “What department are you in?” He asked, as he hadn’t seen Nveid around before.

"Medical." He tilted his head another fraction, as if listening to something particular. "And you?" he added, by means of conversation, "and what do you mean would've swam around at some point? You don't normally swim?" The man seemed toned enough to engage in some form of regular exercise.

“Oh, engineering. And I do swim sometimes, but I typically use my holodeck time to relax. I get most of my workouts in at the gym.” George responded. “You seem to have a knack for swimming though.”

"It's my workout," NVeid grinned, "and my way to keep fit. I occasionally run, but I do prefer to swim. I used to swim competition back when I was younger. Now it's just exercise and occasionally a way to meet new people." He paused as he let himself float over towards the side as treading water was starting to get exhausting. "What do you do in engineering?"

“A little bit of everything I guess,” George said with a shrug. “What about you? What do you do in medical?” He asked as he began to casually swim with his head above the water so he could hear the response.

"I'm a surgeon," Nveid answered, pushing off to join him and keep up with the lazy pace, "as I have been for the last twenty-five years or so, though only the last five or so for Starfleet. I'm not a Starfleet officer though, I'm a civilian surgeon."

“What made you want to work with Starfleet in a civilian capacity?” George asked, genuinely interested as to why someone would decide to work for Starfleet after having a career on the outside for twenty years prior to that.

"Not so much made," NVeid answered honestly, "more out of necessity. They gave me a job after I fled the Empire, or rather what was left of it. They rescued me, a few Starfleet officers and a child after we all were captured by the Kzinti. This was after me and the child fled a Romulan compound when they tried to kill us both." He seemed to shrug. "This is my home now, I can't ever go back. So I do what I do best and help where I am needed."

George stared back with a blank expression for a moment, unsure of how to respond to such an intense background story. “Wow. That sounds...traumatic. Glad you’re here though. I know Starfleet is always in need of a good surgeon.” He picked up speed as his mind wandered, trying to imagine what it must’ve been like for Nveid to have been captured by the Kzinti.

"Starfleet gave me and my son a home," the Romulan acknowledged, "and gave me the opportunity to find my family. The family I had not known I had, before actually meeting my birth father by accident. A heritage I had not known about, until my rescue." He picked up the pace as his companion did. "Starfleet also returned my ability to speak to me."

George stopped at the wall of the pool and looked at Nvied curiously. “Returned your ability to speak to you?” he asked.

"I was unable to converse as we do now, for nearly half my life. I was gravely injured when I was twenty-two, and lost my ability to speak as a result." He failed to mention it was actually a barely survived attempt on his life when he was young, after all it was past and the how didn't really matter anymore. The faction that had caused it, was now scattered as far as he knew.

“Oh, I’d have had no idea. Sounds like your last few years haven’t exactly been easy ones.” George said, unsure of how to truly express sympathy over the Romulan’s unfortunate past. He paused for a moment and looked at his watch. “I hate to cut this short, but I have an early shift in the morning. I’d love to chat again though, perhaps drinks in the mess hall or another swim?” He asked. George typically found it difficult to initiate discussion with others, which made it hard to build relationships of any kind so he had appreciated the conversation.

NVeid chuckled at the first remark, clearly the man had no idea just how old he was, but he let it slide. There was no point in embarrassing him. "Of course. I will probably be here around the same time tomorrow." With a brief nod, NVeid resumed his earlier lane, starting off with strong strokes before diving underwater.