Strokes

Posted on Sat Sep 3rd, 2022 @ 7:51pm by Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea & NVeid tr'Rehu

Mission: Character Development
Location: Holodeck
2999 words - 6 OF Standard Post Measure

Now that his son had left for Betazed again, NVeid was feeling fairly lonely once more. The few days spent with Jarron were worth a lifetime to him and he found himself wishing once more the captain would allow at least for teenagers to be aboard the ship, even though the child was just barely a teenager.

The Romulan hybrid regarded the painting in front of him, and stuck the tip of the brush between his lips, twirling it slightly to get it into a more sharp point for the finer details. He was wearing an old white labcoat to protect his clothes against the spatter of paint, a matter he already seemed to be splattered and splashed with. He narrowed his eyes in concentration as he moved the tip of the brush towards a delicate spot on the canvas.

Nayisa shoved her hands into her pockets as she roamed around on who knows what deck, projecting her usual chipper self. There wasn't much for her to do, so she spent a lot of the day looking through personnel files to get an idea of who she was working with for the foreseeable future. As she passed people, her mind made the connection between file and face, like she was taught. File to face, file to face. As she passed a set of doors she recognized as ones leading to the holodeck, she slowed to read the name of the person occupying it. NVeid tr'Rehu. The name made her stop to make sure she read it right. If she recalled correctly, he was one she wanted to keep an eye on. Not having anything else to do, she thumbed the panel to open the doors.

The doors parted with a hiss, and when she walked in Nayisa saw NVeid sitting there with... an easel? Was he... painting? "Whatcha working on?" She asked cheerfully, keeping herself near the door... just in case. She read his profile and knew he used to be Tal Shiar, but she knew enough about them to know they aren't easy to trust, especially not at first. Probably not while they're painting either.

Startled at the unexpected intrusion, the hybrid looked up even as the hand holding the brush seemed to miss its mark, leaving a broad stroke across the canvas instead. "Nothing in particular," he answered dryly, "abstract art, it seems..." He put the brush and palette down and turned to face her. "Can I help you?"

Hands back in her pockets, Nayisa shrugged. "I heard you were the resident painter and was curious." While not a lie, it wasn't why she was there. Hell, she hadn't even planned on being here. The interruption caught her almost as off guard as it did him, but she did what she did best: improvise. She looked at the broad stroke that now stretched across the whole canvas, "if you don't mind the company, may I join you?"

"I don't mind," he told her as he studied the error and pondered on how to repair it. "I'm not much of a painter, as you can see, but I find it oddly relaxing to at least try and get something visualized." He nodded towards the pile of fruit that was seemingly haphazardly thrown onto a bowl. "However this brown streak is not exactly helping." He nodded towards the brown that seemed to go right through the representation of a few grapes still on the branch. "Thoughts?"

"Hmm..." Nayisa approached, albeit slowly to complement her cautiousness, as she continued to examine the canvas. "I'm not much of a painter myself." Briefly turning her attention to the pile of fruit, she added, "maybe add in some more grapes?"

Turning his head once more to study her, he regarded her in silence for a moment. There was something about her, and he couldn't quite pin it down. "Why grapes?" He queried quietly, why not a brown banana?

"Well, if you cover the brown with the purple, it might look more like a branch with grapes on it." Turning to him, Nayisa caught his gaze as he stared at her, analyzing her. It was a familiar feeling, being analyzed. She was a new and unfamilair face, and maybe he was trying to see if he recognized her. As usual, she wouldn't give him anything, not until she could determine that he wasn't up to something. "The smear is a bit too brown to be a browned banana, in my opinion, unless you add a few yellow patches."

"I don't think either will work to make it look natural." He stood and covered the canvas with a cloth to protect it. "I need some time to consider how to repair it." He turned back towards her, now giving the young Human his full attention. "So...why the interest in my painting skill? It seems a little odd to me, to seek me out while I am on my own, especially given your department." He gave a nod towards the grey indicators of her department. "Adding the fact that I can barely read you, it feels like you have something to hide from me. What is it you want from me?" His expression had hardened a little, a touch of annoyance in his voice.

"What? I'm just getting to know who I share the ship with," Nayisa responded, crossing her arms. Again, not exactly a lie. The action was almost in mock offense, but she was far from offended. Just in case, she kept an air of positive, yet reserved, contentment. "I just happened to walk by the holodeck and see your name on the panel outside, so I thought I would say hello.." She forgot she had on her uniform until he pointed it out. It was both convenient and a curse to have a uniform with no obnoxious color, because it was easy for her to visually tune it out. "Which, since I've put you at a disadvantage, I'm Nayisa. I'm nosey, and not just because of what I do."

"Obviously. I don't believe in coincidences. You do not just walk in due to curiosity. Intelligence officers aren't generally nosy unless they need to be. So my question stands, what do you want?" He looked tense, clearly having no real love for intelligence officers.

There was a long pause as Nayisa considered her options. She didn't put thought into how she'd get to know him, so if he was actually Tal Shiar then she'd be screwed. She knew their reputation and what disloyalty meant. If he was still alive, there was no way he got away from them and lived to tell the tale. "Fine," she finally said, letting her contentment fade. "I want to know why you're here. Your file says you were former Tal Shiar, but it's common knowledge that it's near impossible to get out alive."

"That's right. I was Tal Shiar, and nearly didn't live to tell the tale. I managed to flee, and I have Federation citizenship, thanks to my Betazoid father. As to why I'm here... starfleet assigned me here as senior surgeon, because that's what I am. And I live to serve, my goal and purpose is to help heal those who need it, without discrimination. And you're still right, it is near impossible. I'm always looking over my shoulder, I never fully feel safe. But....I feel safer here. At least Starfleet doesn't try to kill me."

Nayisa looked him over again, consciously keeping her training at bay. He had yet to give her a reason to not trust him, and his past affiliations didn't count. She had her own morally gray moments, but that didn't define her. Until he did something to confirm his loyalties, she really only had his word. Also, it was quite audacious to put something with such a negative connotation in a personnel file. The silver-haired woman shrugged and gave him a smile, not one to maintain a negative mood. "Cool. Pardon the skepticism, it's not personal, but I'll do my best to keep it in check."

"I understand." He realized now that while she had given him her name, he'd never formally given her his. "I apologize, I'm a little...careful these days. Call it paranoid, if you like." He smiled pleasantly. "Perhaps we can start over? My name is NVeid tr'Rehu. I'm a civilian surgeon on this vessel."

Nayisa nodded in understanding. "I get that, for obvious reasons. I'm Nayisa, again. As you pointed out, I am intelligence, more specifically an infiltration specialist. The 'barely able to read' thing," she lightly tapped her temple, "also not personal. I can't afford to have people poking their noses in my brain."

"I'm not in the habit of reading thoughts," NVeid smiled thinly, "but usually people are a whirl of emotions which is very hard to avoid. And then there's you...a void of nothing. Usually only Vulcans exhibit that trait, and obviously you're not. Anyway, if you have questions I'm happy to answer them, just not under false pretenses. I have very few secrets and I have nothing to hide. Anyone who knows me well enough knows I'm an open book."

His smile was not foreign to Nayisa. It was one of those smiles that secrets hide behind, similar to the one she'd give when she couldn't say anything. It hinted to her that he may not trust her just yet, not that she could blame him. With the entrance she made, Nayisa wouldn't trust herself either. "My line of work requires mental, and sometimes emotional, barriers," she simply explained. "Obviously, I have questions about your former affiliations, but I don't want to cause you grief. This is an awkward first encounter after all, not an interrogation." Her tone was light, and she gave a kind smile to accompany her last sentence.

Noting the smile was genuine, he nodded. "Grief is sometimes unavoidable," he pointed out as he stroked his brush across the canvas in front of him. "Perhaps you should join me, and we can talk," he invited, "might as well now that you're here."

Nayisa paused to mull it over before asking the holodeck for an extra canvas, brush, and seat next to NVeid. "I'm nowhere near as good at painting but I'll give it a shot," she said, taking a seat. She took a moment to find a comfortable way to hold the brush before staring at the bowl of fruit. "Obviously stop me if I get too personal, but the main question on my mind is... how the hell did you get out?"

"I fled." It was as simple as that. "On my last assignment with them, I was assigned to a frozen planet and I knew my life was in danger. I was the mute agent with a conscience, and when they wanted me to question a child, I refused. My superior attacked me and I defended myself. I was gravely wounded but I still took the child and fled into the show. A Starfleet away team found us and ultimately we were all rescued as we came under attack from the Kzinti." He paused. "The child was returned to his father, but now he is my son. His father was killed when the boy was not even six years old and apparently the father wanted the child to be put in my care as his own family wanted nothing of the poor boy." His dark eyes flashed angrily at that memory. "How can one be so petty and....fascist and not want your sibling's child? Just because he is not purebred?" He sighed and looked sideways. "I apologize, the memory still angers me, even after all these years."

Nayisa didn't need any special abilities beyond her own human empathy to see his anger, even though she couldn't relate to his experiences. Catching herself staring at him when he apologized, she blinked and shook her head. "Your anger is justified," she said with a shrug. Looking at the fruit again, she paused before dipping her brush into the purple paint. "It's hard to move past something so unforgivable, and as long as that anger doesn't consume you, I'd argue it's healthy to feel." Adjusting the brush in her hand again, she added, "how's the boy fared?"

"He stays with one of my younger siblings while I am assigned here, though we speak as frequently as possible and meet up when leave allows for it. He's better off with full Betazoid siblings to help him with his talents for now anyway, as I didn't grow up on Betazed and my talents were trained...differently." He added a few strokes of paint to his artwork, judging it from a slight distance. "Jarron is half Betazoid," he clarified, "as am I but you already know this. My father was very young, a teenager still when he met my mother. I don't think my mother's mate ever knew of the transgression. Nor did I growing up... the man I called father, really was my father as far as I knew. I didn't know until years later that I wasn't even purebred." He shrugged. "I met my birth father by chance, and I'm lucky his new family has accepted me even though my half-siblings are much younger than I." NVeid paused, turning his head. "Do you have siblings? Children?"

As Nayisa listened, she began to paint the grapes onto her canvas. Or try to, at least. They just looked like purple splotches. "I have a younger brother," she effortlessly lied, her eyes flicking between the fruit and her canvas. "Last time I saw him, he was an annoying and sticky little child, but I hear he's matured a bit. No kids though, I don't have the time for them." As much as she wanted kids, she didn't feel it was fair to have to lie to her own child. She already had to do it with her family.

Though, through years of training, he picked up the lie, NVeid pretended not to have noticed. "Perhaps it is time to make contact again then," he suggested smoothly, "nothing is more important than family."

"I wish I could," Nayisa replied with a sigh, putting another purple circle-ish shape on the canvas. "It's not that simple, though. Surely you understand limited contact for safety reasons. Call it paranoia, but I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to them because I slipped up and contacted them in a way that could be traced."

"Then find a way so they can't be traced," the Romulan suggested lightly, "I'm sure an intelligence officer such as yourself knows of such methods? Besides you work on a Starfleet ship now, it's not like you're deep undercover is it?"

The corner of Nayisa's lips curled up into a smile. "Yeah, you're right, I could find a way. I guess that's more of an excuse than any real reason." She looked at the fruit again, but this time for longer as she let her mind wander. "I guess the real reason is that I don't want them to know what I actually do. My work can be dangerous, and I am fully aware of what I signed up for, but knowing that I'm basically a spy for Starfleet would break my mother's heart. She already hated me going into Starfleet back when I worked in ops, I'm sure she'd have a heart attack if I told her I switched departments and now do work more dangerous than standing behind some console."

Looking back to the canvas, Nayisa could almost see some of her thoughts expressed in the painting. The purple circle she made when she was lying was a little better than the others, and there was almost too much paint on the circles made when she talked about her famy, enough to make the paint pool at the bottom of the circle in an attempt to run down the canvas. Washing her brush, she picked one of the several shades of red. "Also, you know I wouldn't be able to tell you if I were undercover, right? As the old Earth movies say..." She briefly turned her voice into a lower, gravelly one. "... if I tell ya, I'd have to kill ya." She then gave him a silly grin to emphasize that she was purely joking.

"I know better than to ask too," NVeid answered, "and, you would probably know if I were, though I promise you I am not. Like I have said, I have nothing to hide and nothing to gain by secrecy." He nodded towards her canvas. "That looks pretty good," he praised her efforts.

Nayisa gave him a smile that held understanding before she looked back at the canvas in front of her. "Thanks... though I'll be honest, I don't know what I'm doing," she chuckled.

"Isn't that the whole purpose of learning something new?" NVeid challenged, "that when you start doing it, you have no clue where to begin or how to do it? I started painting after I was rescued, as I find it very relaxing. As you can see, I still have a fair way to go too before it becomes anything decent. Altough if I have to be honest, I do prefer the serenity of a bowl of fruit, over having to paint a person. Live subjects are...not quiet."

"Fair enough," Nayisa said, internally comparing her painting to his. While she had a desire for precision, he had experience behind him, but his work still looked better than hers. She looked back at NVeid, a hint of skepticism behind her eyes despite her efforts to mask it. Whether that skepticism was due to her personal feelings or due to her job was left to anyone's imagination, but perhaps she could learn to push past it. She gave him a smile and picked up her brush again, ready to try and improve her painting.