Similar hobbies

Posted on Fri Sep 25th, 2020 @ 1:12am by NVeid tr'Rehu & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII & Ensign George Paxton

Mission: Character Development
Location: Holodeck 2
Timeline: Evening
2979 words - 6 OF Standard Post Measure

“How is that diagnostic looking?” Finnley asked as she approached Paxton. The numbers for plasma pressure within the core were only just within tolerance levels that morning and she had asked him to run a couple of tests on the Intermix Chamber to investigate.

Paxton looked up from his console. “The diagnostics are coming back clear, but I see what you were referring to this morning. The numbers are only just within the specs and I think they could be improved on,” he responded.

“Excellent. We’ll tell the next shift to keep an eye on it and work on the improvements in the morning,” Finnley stated as they were at the end of their shift. “Walk back to crew quarters with me?” she asked. She had worked with George a few times since being on the Athena and they had come to know each other. He was indecisive at times and for whatever reason avoided working in the jefferies tubes at all costs, but had real promise as both an engineer and a friend.

“Sure,” he said with a grin. George wrapped up the diagnostic while Finnley informed the relieving crew of the situation and then they both exited engineering towards crew quarters.

Finnley looked over at George as they exited the Turbolift. "So how are things with you?" She asked. Having been busy the past few days she didn’t know what the latest was in Paxton’s life.

"Pretty good, nothing very exciting. Though I did find out that there's a Romulan that plays a swimming program most nights on holodeck 2 so don't book holodeck time there in the evenings unless you just want to go for a swim.” He chuckled, recalling his encounter from the previous evening.

Finnley raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Interesting. I have actually been itching to go for a swim. I love the water and I’m getting a bit burned out at the gym. Maybe I should check it out?”

“You should definitely go! I was going to stop by again tonight to swim and talk, but I didn’t sleep very well last night and I’m pretty worn out. The guy’s name is NVeid. If you’re going to stop by will you tell him I’m sorry I wasn’t able to make it?” George asked. Although he had thoroughly enjoyed the encounter with NVeid, he just didn’t feel up to socializing this particular night.

“Sure,” Finnley shrugged and then looked at George as they neared her quarters. “This is my stop.”

“Have a good night,” George gave a small wave as he continued down the hall.

She entered her quarters and paused for a moment, deciding on if she should check out the pool program Paxton had mentioned or go to the gym. Making up her mind, she quickly changed into her favorite swimsuit, put on a cover, grabbed a towel and then headed to the turbolift.

Upon entering the holodeck, Finnley saw who she assumed was NVeid halfway down one of the swimlanes. The Romulan looked up as he reached the wall.

“Hey! I’m Finnley, though most people call me Finn or Keating. Paxton told me that there was a pool program run here most evenings and I thought I’d check it out. Hope you don’t mind the intrusion?” Finnley asked with a smile. Moving around from starship to starship growing up had made her no stranger to introductions and she enjoyed meeting new people most of the time.

"Not at all ma'am," NVeid answered as he gave her a once over. "NVeid tr'Rehu," he introduced himself, "you say most people call you such, but what would you prefer?" He glanced around. "And where is Mister Paxton? He had promised me a race."

“I don’t know that I have a preference to be honest. Most people just pick what they prefer and that’s just fine with me.” Finnley shrugged as she took off her cover and sandals and set down her towel. She made her way into the pool. It felt good to be back in the water. “Paxton said he didn’t sleep very well last night and was worn out. He asked me to give you his apologies for not making it out tonight.”

Nveid nodded in understanding. "Sleep is important." He pushed himself away from the side, allowing himself to float. "You look at home in the water, do you swim often?" He could sense her pleasure at being afloat, and her joy at being in the water.

“Usually, yes. I was born on Earth near the coast. My dad was an avid surfer and taught me how to catch a wave from an early age. I’ve always loved the water, but haven’t found the time to reserve the holodeck and swim in a while,” she replied. “What about you? You seem to be quite adept at swimming.”

"Adept is somewhat of an understatement," the hybrid smiled, "though I'll admit I don't know what catching a wave means. I've always been swimming in pools, rarely have I ventured into natural waters." he arched an eyebrow at her from his prone floating position. "What does it mean? Catch a wave?"

“Ha, sorry, I forget that not everyone knows these things. Do you know what surfing is?” she asked. Finnley was pretty sure that he was part Romulan based on his looks, but had no idea if surfing was a thing in any of the places he might have lived.

Nveid shook his head. "No I'm afraid not. I never really had much time to entertain hobbies, I took up swimming, and competition swimming to remain fit and clear my mind." He paused. "Under water is almost the only place where I don't have to maintain constant mental control."

“Well basically you stand on top of a board in the ocean and a wave pushes you towards the shore...You might be better off just looking it up later,” she chuckled, realizing that her surfing explanation was a very poor one. “So no time for hobbies? What is it that you do that keeps you so busy?” She inquired.

"Crew getting injured, medical research, my child..." He paused, his expression changing as he mentioned his child. It made him acutely aware that his son was not with him at present, and wouldn't be anytime soon. He exhaled more deeply than intended and disappeared under the surface for a few seconds. A few precious seconds that allowed him to recollect himself. "I do try to paint..." he finally offered, "what do you do when you're off duty?"

Ugh, medical, she thought. Finnley had always disliked medical, mostly because they were constantly trying to scan, poke and prod you and she hated that. Preferring instead to keep her personal bubble fully intact at all times.

“I mostly workout, review engineering reports from other ships or review the latest engineering research to see how I can apply any improvements. Outside of that, the occasional holodeck beach visit to surf, swim or go on some sort of thrill seeking adventure.” She paused for a moment, recollecting that NVeid had a somewhat sorrowful expression when he had mentioned his son. “So you have a kid?” She considered not asking, but was curious and didn’t know what else to talk about since she had zero medical knowledge.

"A son," he acknowledged with a nod, "he's eight and currently residing with my sister on Betazed." It was clear he didn't like to be separated from the child. "I do hope he'll be allowed to join me here soon, I'll have to speak to the captain about that. Do you have a family?" He could sense her curiosity fairly easily.

“Betazed?” she raised an eyebrow, curious as to why someone would want to live on a planet with a bunch of telepaths. Finnley resented the idea of anyone sensing her thoughts so living on a planet full of people with that capability sounded like pure hell to her.

“I have my parents and a best friend that’s like a brother. No kids or partners and that’s good enough for me right now,” she stated with a smile. Content to fiddle around in engineering all day, she hadn’t really put a lot of effort into any sort of romantic relationships.

"My sisters are Betazoid," Nveid explained patiently, sensing a hint of resentment, "I have no partner either. Not since my ex-fiancee was reassigned and our relationship kind of...faded. I am for now content though I would like for my son to have a mother."

Finnley slowly put two and two together and instantly went to an internal red alert. If his sisters are Betazoid, that must mean he’s at least part Betazoid also. Does that mean he’s been able to sense my thoughts this whole time? I haven’t thought anything horrible yet have I?. Her mind rambled for a moment, caught off guard by the newfound telepathic discovery. She thought about making an excuse to leave, but needed the swim and at this point he had already probably read her thoughts so it didn’t make too much of a difference.

Without responding to NVeid’s last statement, she kicked off the wall and swam. Her mind cleared with each stroke until she could think of nothing but her form and how the water felt as it rushed past her body. She resurfaced after a couple of quick laps, feeling refreshed and turned her attention back to NVeid.

“The ship has a relatively large crew. Perhaps there’s a partner waiting for you onboard. Have you met much of the crew yet?” she asked, a little hesitantly. She didn’t want to be rude and completely ignore him, he did seem like a nice guy, but she was definitely more on guard now that she knew his background.

Nveid shook his head. "No I've been mostly keeping to sickbay and the mess, I haven't really interacted much." He had watched her rush off and had sensed the confusion, but purposefully had failed to respond to it. He knew how people, in general, felt about telepaths and he wanted to earn the trust, not simply have it. "I could say the same for you though, perhaps there's someone here for you too?"

“Maybe, but I’m still relatively new here so I haven’t met many people yet. I’m also not necessarily looking for a relationship, but I suppose I’m not opposed to one either,” she admitted. Tilting her head with curiosity, Finnley looked at NVeid, “so you’re part Betazoid then? Can you read people’s thoughts?”

Best to be honest even if that would result in having no friends. Nveid made no secret of his ability, but he didn't exactly flaunt them either. Even when he had no voice, he preferred not to use his telepathy. So, he slowly nodded. "I can," he admitted, "but I generally don't unless I absolutely need to. I can't help sensing feelings but I am bound by the same ethics as any other telepath. Your thoughts are very safe ma'am."

Finnley narrowed her eyes slightly, scrutinizing his response and sizing him up for a moment. Opening up to people wasn’t something she typically did. She enjoyed making new friends, and it was important to her now that she was on a new ship. But as a result of constantly moving around, she had learned that opening up or trusting someone made the connection closer and that just resulted in getting hurt more when it was time to leave. How do you keep your walls up with a telepath? She wondered.

“What constitutes a situation in which you would absolutely need to read someone’s thoughts?” She asked, a slight look of suspicion still etched across her face.

"A medical one, or an emergency," Nveid answered honestly, "as I said it's not ethical to read someone's thoughts without their permission. Feelings can't be helped but your thoughts are your own. Barring an emergency or a medical situation, I wouldn't get into your thoughts without your permission. Telepathic communication is also something I don't engage in without recipient permission, again, barring an emergency."

Finnley nodded slowly and looked at the water, digesting everything he said. Suddenly, she looked back up at NVeid with a focused gaze. “So, is it more difficult to read people’s thoughts or to keep from reading people’s thoughts?” It was something she’d always wondered.

He gave her a look of wonder in return, given it was second nature to him to do or don't do either. "I actually don't know," he answered, "I suspect both would require equal effort. I've been trained to keep up a mental shield that keeps the chatter out, so I actually don't really think about it. In my situation it'd probably take more effort to consciously read you, than not do it. I think it's different for each telepath, but I actually can't be sure."

“Interesting. Well I suppose I’ve grilled you enough about your ability. You said Paxton owed you a race? I don’t know how my swimming abilities compare with his, but I’d be happy to give it a go if you’re interested?” She inquired.

"He was supposed to meet me," the hybrid acknowledged with a nod. "I welcome a new opponent though I must warn you that I am a practiced competent, the race might not be considered fair. Would you like a head start?"

Finnley arched an eyebrow. “A head start?” she repeated for clarification, almost offended by the idea that she’d need one. Swimming in rough seas was no easy task, yet she had been doing it since she was a child and felt more than capable of at least keeping up with NVeid. “I think I can hold my own. 10 laps, first one to finish gets to pick the holodeck program this time tomorrow. Deal?”

Nveid nodded as he swam over to the side and pulled himself from the water to walk over to the diving block. "As you wish," he stated simply.

Following suit with NVeid, Finnley hopped out of the water and walked to the adjacent diving block. “Computer, start a verbal race countdown, 3 second lead,” she commanded. The computer chimed in acknowledgement. “Three, two, one, begin.”

They both quickly dove off of the blocks into the water. Being overly competitive, Finnley swam with everything she had. Nearing the opposite wall she quickly flipped, turning mid way and then kicked off again headed in the opposite direction, now on lap two. NVeid was close, though she couldn’t tell precisely where as she entered laps three and four. The next few laps flew by, her arms and legs continued to slip through the water and propel her body forward with speed. It wasn’t until lap nine that her muscles started to fatigue, but even so she was determined to give it her all.

Nveid ploughed through the water with the ease of years of competitive swimming. He paid no attention to Finnley as he pushed off from the opposite wall. He made no effort at all to get a bearing on her position, to do that would be a slip of focus. Focus, he needed to be on his own location in the pool. Only on the final lap, when he finally touched the finish, did he look up to see where she was.

A second later Finnley’s hand emerged from the water and slapped the wall. Surfacing, she realized that NVeid had beat her to it. She shook her head and sighed, disappointed in the loss, but then looked up at the impressive competitor. “Fair is fair, it was a good race,” Finnley stated with a hand outstretched for a congratulatory shake. She may have felt disappointed in not winning, but she knew how to be a good sport about it.

He smiled at her, but didn't take the offered hand. "It was a good race ma'am," he said, hanging on to the side of the pool, heaving in lungsful of breath. "I don't mean to be rude, but touching wouldn't be such a good idea without some preparation, especially not shaking hands. I'm a telepath, remember? Touch might give me some unwanted glimpses into your memory, or you into mine. I don't think you'd like that." Aside from the fact that he actually didn't like to be touched without invitation to do so, to begin with.

“Oh, right, sorry,” she said, somewhat awkwardly putting her hand back down. “I can’t say I’ve met many telepaths, so it’s not something I’d thought about. You’re right though, I do prefer to keep my memories to myself.” Finnley paused for a moment considering her next move. The swim had been refreshing, but she still didn’t know how she felt about returning and continuing contact with a telepath. Even one as nice as NVeid seemed.

“Well, thanks for the race, but it’s late and I should probably turn in for the night,” she said, making her way out of the pool. “And it’s Finn by the way, or Keating if you prefer, no need to address me as ma’am.”

"It's a habit," the hybrid acknowledged as he pulled himself out of the pool, "but I'll try to remember. I should head home too, I'm actually hoping for messages from my son."

“I hope you hear from your son and that you have a good night,” Finnley said with a genuine smile before exiting the holodeck. Perhaps I will stop by for another swim tomorrow, she thought.