The subtleties of language

Posted on Wed May 17th, 2023 @ 4:35pm by Senior Chief Petty Officer Mason Malone & Ensign Quinn Alka-Sutton

Mission: Character Development
Location: Messhall
Timeline: MD-05
2280 words - 4.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Today had so far, as far as Quinn was concerned, not been a complete disaster. Sure, they had run late multiple times and been lost at least twice trying to navigate the decks of the Athena but much worse things could have happened. With the less-than-disaster mostly out of the way, the half-Bajoran had decided to reward themselves - and so they now sat at a table in a fairly empty messhall, pouring over a PADD and quietly emulating the various phonetics of the Rihan language between mouthfuls of root beer float.

"This is the strangest drink I've ever had," Mason commented as he pointed at the drink, "how come you love this so much?" He glanced between his companion and the drink, pushing the PADD aside for a moment. After all linguistics wasn't officially part of his duties.

Quinn glanced down at the float and gave a little shrug, "My mom used to have them all the time when I was little. Dad always said they were too sweet but kids will be kids with sweet stuff, I guess. And now they remind me of those days." They gave a little smile, "Besides - it's root beer and ice cream! That's like two of the best things in the entire world. What isn't there to like about it?"

"The root beer" Mason chuckled, "but each to their own right? Bajorans do seem to like sweet stuff though, don't they? My sister was very particular regarding sweet things when I was a kid. Always lecturing about the need for healthy food. But hey, no one is taking steak and fries from me. Unhealthy as it is."

"Yeah, Bajorans do seem to love their sweet stuff," the ensign said with a grin before shovelling the last of the drink into their mouth. After a moment to savour the taste, they gave a slight shrug, "You know, I never much got steak myself. There's not much like it on Bajor and every time I tried it from the replicator it was like chewing on a pair of boots."

"Have you tried eating boots to compare?" Mason chuckled as he looked at his companion.

"I'll stick to my hasperat, thanks." They scrolled through the PADD once more, "You know, for how related the Romulans are to Vulcans, they sure went the extra mile to make sure their language was different."

"Languages do evolve, probably through dialects in this case as well. You are aware there are Romulans serving on this vessel? It should be fun to engage them in their native language once in a while. Speaking of which.... my Bajoran sucks...maybe you could help me with that some time?"

"Part of why I'm brushing up on it. I've never had a chance to actually speak it with an actual Romulan before and I don't want to embarass myself." The ensign lit up a bit at the mention of their own language, "Oh - it's been a long time since I've had anyone to speak Bajoran with! Even when I was a kid we tended to speak Federation Standard at home since mom always had a hard time with Bajoran."

Mason looked at the young woman sitting next to him and smiled. "Why not teach me some basics first?" He suggested as he then pointed between themselves, unaware of his companion's preference of address. "Male... Female," he said, then pointed at the PADD. "Hobby?"

Quinn gestured to themself and, in perfectly inflected Bajoran: "They." And then again in Federation Standard, just to be sure the other understood. "And yeah, a fun hobby. I spent the first years on my life living on Deep Space Nine and was always fascinated by all the languages I heard. I always wanted to know how to speak them all to be able to talk to the visitors in their native langages." They gestured to Mason and, again in Bajoran, "He?"

For a moment, Mason just stared. "They?" he queried curiously, not quite sure he had understood correctly. Then he nodded as he was pointed at. "Yes, he." For good measure he also repeated it in Romulan, to keep up their current practice. "My main motivation is also to be able to communicate in the event the UT fails, and it has been known to do that." He grinned. "So it's up to us language monkeys then to help out, right?"

"They." Quinn repeated again, nodding along as Mason confirmed they'd spoken right and repeated both they and he back in Romulan as well. The more practice, the better. "I definitely did fairly well on the drills at the Academy when they disabled the universal translator. Though I had trouble with one Xahean cadet - I can never quite get the right frequencies for the purrs."

"Try getting hisses right in Gorn," Manson chuckled, though a look of confusion crossed his face. "I don't want to appear rude," he ventured carefully, "but why do you call yourself 'they'?"

The half-Bajoran paused for a second, reaching to touch their right ear. After a moment of thought, Quinn lowered their hand, "It's... it's a little hard to explain sometimes but... I never really thought anything else felt right, you know? 'She' always seemed wrong somehow and 'he' was definitely out of the question. Neither felt right because I never thought of myself as either."

"I suppose in a way I can relate," Mason mused, "though I'm most definitely a he." He smiled at Quinn. "I hope you'll bear with me though, and correct me if I err? I'm ah... only human as they say. I say I can somewhat relate because uhm .." he paused, a fear of old prejudice encountered as a teenager coming to mind. "My partner is male," he finally settled on. "How do you cover it in different languages? What if the UT doesn't pick up on such subtleties of language and reference?"

"That," Quinn began in Standard and quickly switched to Romulan, "is why I like to study languages." They swapped the language once again back to Standard, "Sometimes the translator has trouble with the distinctions in some languages but I find it's usually pretty good. But it's always good to have a way to explain subtlties it sometimes has trouble with." There was a long pause before the half-Bajoran spoke once more, "Is it hard being away from him for so long on deployment?"

"He serves on this ship," Mason smiled, "he's an engineer and we met here, on this ship too. We've been dating for a little while now. Do you have a significant other?"

"Well, that definitely has to make life easier." They chuckled slightly then gave a quick shake of their head in answer to the question, "N-no. I was always far too busy at the Academy to really think about something like that." Clearly flustered, they carried on, "I mean, I'm so young and there's always been everything else to worry about, what with classes and prepping for assignment to a ship and just... just... well, there's so much!"

"Oh I know that feeling ma-" he faltered then flushed in embarrassment. "Uhm... sir?" He cast Quinn a questioning look. "Is sir correct? Or do you prefer something else?" Habits did die hard, but he knew people did have preferences of formal address. "I was married once....we were both very busy people but we did manage to make time. That's important, to make time. You say you're young but that's subjective isn't it? Compared to a Vulcan we're both children, right?"

There was a long pause as Quinn thought about the question in their head, "Hm, that's a good one - I've uhh... I've never really had anyone who would call me 'sir' before. I'd have to think about that one for awhile but... I guess 'sir' works for now?" Another pause and thought, "I guess that's sort of right but... I've still got lots of time to worry about something like that later. I've got way too much on my plate right now to uhh... well..." They gestured with their hands.

"I've been told off on calling some women ma'am," Mason supplied after a pause, "they said the proper address is sir, even to a female but that wasn't what my sister drilled into me as a boy, or even a teenager. It's confusing at best, but you do outrank me.... you're an ensign, I'm enlisted. Even if I do probably have more experience." He flushed again. "What've you got on your plate? Wanna share? Maybe, maybe I can help?"

"Honestly, even with the pip I still sometimes forget I'm out of the Academy. Things are different but... well, I guess it'll just take some time to feel real, you know?" The ensign gave a bit of a shrug, "It's just settling in to duties, really - catching up on ship regulations, settling in and getting to know people, just getting used to being in active duty instead of taking classes all the time and worrying about whether or not my professor will give me an extension because my roommate brought back a case of Denobulan measles and -" That might be getting a little too specific and a little too personal, Quinn thought, changing directions, "You know, just 'new officer jitters' type things."

"I know the 'new' part, does that help?" Mason chuckled, "haven't had a roommate in a while though, not officially since my divorce anyway. I do spend a lot of time with my partner however. Just not every night I suppose." He cast Quinn a curious glance. "Do you have someone special?"

The half-Bajoran gave a quick shake of the head, "Honestly, aside from my roommate I haven't had a lot of company over the last few years. Most people don't want to hear about biology or languages... and even less stick around once I've started talking about my other hobbies. I mostly think my roommate put up with it because she didn't have much choice."

"What other hobbies?" Mason prompted, "surely they're not so weird that no-one sticks around?" He arched an eyebrow at his companion. "Are they?"

"N-no! It's not like that. It's just... well, you ever start telling a story and just kind of see someone's eyes glaze over?" They gave a quick shake of their head and a laugh, "Like that."

"Mostly when it concerned work," Mason chuckled then cast Quinn a daring look. "Try me."

"I mean, it's pretty boring. I end up going on and on about the various stories from the holodeck and well... lots of people sort of... well, they kind of check out when I start talking about them." They gave a slight shrug, "I'm used to it at this point."

"Well that's on them then, and pretty rude. I mean, they could just tell you if you spiral right? What kind of programs do you enjoy? Sappy romantic stuff? Physical challenges? Roleplaying? Me and George go hiking, me and Finn used to run mud courses." His face fell a little at the mention of the former chief engineer.

Seeing the look on the other's face, Quinn paused for a moment - was it something they said? No, Quinn, they reminded themself, it's not always about you. "Well, mostly roleplaying though I suppose there's some physical challenges in there as well. One time, when I was young, my mother and I..." It was Quinn's turn for their face to fall a little bit, "Well, there was some hiking involved, anyways."

Tilting his head a fraction, Mason studied them for a moment. "Did something bad happen? You don't have to tell me obviously, you barely know me after all, but you know...I am a reasonably good listener...at least I hope...so if you do want to tell....I'm here." He smiled. "Don't forget linguistics is what we do, reading the subtleties of language, is what we do."

Quinn shook their head, "It's nothing, really - just my mother was a Starfleet officer as well. Things happen sometimes to ships, that's all. I was... ten, eleven? I don't remember exactly - but her ship disappeared with all hands during a mission." There was a long pause and the half-Bajoran gave a sad smile, "I've come to terms with it but sometimes something reminds me of her and I... well, sometimes I miss her."

"Understandable. I have no memory of my mother, at least nothing that makes sense. I can't remember her face. It's understandable that some triggers can make us feel bad." He reached out to cover Quinn's hand with his. "I'm sorry my question triggered something like that." He nodded towards the door. "Maybe we should find a quiet office to continue working?"

"It's fine - really. I keep reminding myself they're happy memories, at least." They gave a little shake of the head and a laugh, "We really did drift off topic from the work, huh? Maybe it would be better to find somewhere quieter to work, since shift rotation should be soon."

"I'm expected in the security suite when my shift starts, but I'm happy to help with this later? Assuming George doesn't have plans." He paused. "I'm sure there's room for one more at dinner, if you'd like to join us?"

Quinn stood slowly, a bit of a frown on their face as they grabbed the PADD from the table, "Actually, that sounds great. I could use the company, I think." They gave a wan smile.

"Great!" Mason smiled. "I'll let you know when."