Soccer Geeks

Posted on Wed Jul 6th, 2016 @ 2:44am by Ensign Vex Krylore & Ensign Theodore Vega

Episode: Lost Property
Location: Crew Lounge
Timeline: MD 6, Evening

Vex adjusted his shirt again, pulling at the hem of it in an attempt to move it back down. He had bought the dark grey shirt before shipping out from the academy on the suggestion of his friend August... personally, he would have been happy with no real causal clothes. That was something that August stated several times was not acceptable. He looked down at the scales on his forearms and took note that a few other crewmen in the lounge were looking at him as well.

He should have known better, he was the first Unkari in Starfleet. In fact, he was the first Unkari that had chosen not join his own Empire's forces and instead opted for service with an entirely different organization. Still, he was pretty sure that he wasn't the strangest looking alien in all of Starfleet.

Or, it could have been staring at him for another reason entirely. The doors opened and Theo walked in, looking even better in his off duty attire than he did in his uniform. Vex admonished himself for those thoughts, Theo was just being friendly. And he had been right about needing someone new to hang out with.

Looking around, Theo spotted Vex at one of the tables and waved as he walked that direction. It was a bit more apparent that he wasn't as human as he looked at first glance now that he was in short sleeves, but Theo wasn't too surprised by that. Luna was one of the great shipping hubs of the Federation and fairly cosmopolitan as a result. Tycho City wasn't like some worlds, or even many parts of Earth, where you could easily grow up without seeing more than one or two aliens in your childhood. Fur or four arms were only mildly remarkable.

"Sorry I'm running late," Theo said. "I'm running DNA assays of some plants from the last planet we surveyed. It took longer than expected; a few samples we thought were identical turned out to be completely different species."

"Sounds interesting," Vex said. "Hows your boss?"

Theo shrugged. "He's fine. Seems to know what he's doing, anyway."

"Wait, is he that MACO turned scientist?" Vex asked.

"Why is it that everyone apparently knows that but me?" Theo complained.

"Eh, I may or may not have looked up his file after I saw him onboard my first day," Vex admitted. "He was jogging around and, well I thought he was kinda cute."

"He's my boss!" Theo protested.

Vex blushed. "Well, he is."

Theo just shook his head and wondered why people around him were so crazy sometimes.

Vex reached into his bag and brought out a bottle of blue/green liquid. He followed that up with two glasses.

"What's this?" Theo asked.

"Some spirits from home," Vex explained. "I mean the stuff here is good but this is better. I thought we might have a drink. Also it might help with the fact that I am really trying to not freak out right now."

"I guess as long as it won't poison me I can try a glass," Theo allowed. "And what's wrong?"

Vex put the glasses down and fidgeted with his hands. He had made a promise to both August and Rose that he would try and make some new friends. Although, getting himself out of his shell seemed easier when it was an abstract concept and not with someone sitting right next to him.

"Um, I sort of made a promise to some friends I would work on this whole social anxiety thing I have going on," Vex explained. "I mean, I guess I just assume people get uncomfortable around me."

Theo tried to figure out why that would be the case, running through an increasingly wild and improbable list of strange reasons. He settled one and said with a grin, "Why? You're not one of those species that eats people or something, are you? Hiding some sharp teeth?"

Vex smiled. "Um, no. Not that."

"Alright, so what's the problem?"

"I'm Niri, which in my speices means I have predominately male characteristics but also have...err...both sets of equipment if you get my drift."

It took Theo a few moments to cotton on. "Oh. Ooooooooh." He forced himself to focus on Vex's face and not look him over. "Like, uh, Andorians. No, wait, that's not right..."

Vex laughed, in spite of himself. Usually, these kinds of conversations were all awkward.

"I mean I don't know to explain it without sounds like some horrible 2nd year seminar on the wonders of hermaphroditic species. My species has three sexes; male, female, and well...those like me, that have both sets of sex organs. You either display predominantly male characteristics, like me or female characteristics."

"Oh. That's different," Theo said. The biologist wanted to ask a lot of questions. Detailed questions that would probably be both way too personal and way too impersonal, and certainly not what Vex needed to hear when he was clearly uncomfortable. "Man, that must make us all seem weird."

Vex chuckled. "Not really... when I joined Starfleet I wanted to go out and see what the universe had to offer. Really, two genders isn't all that different from three. I just sort of forgot that most other races find the whole thing odd."

"I guess most people probably don't think about it. Its not as obvious as scales or antennae."

"You should have been around the first time I had to go into a locker-room... most embarrassing moment of my life ever."

"I can see that," Theo said with a nod. "I remember a flight training exercise, I spent two weeks in a shuttle with a Saurian and a Caitian. It was a little awkward at first."

"I can only imagine," Vex responded. "I dunno, it was hard for a lot of people to get past it at the academy, I mean I came from a culture where nudity and appreciating a person's body was a normal thing. It confused the hell out of people when I told them I identified as mostly male when I had both sets of organs."

Theo nodded. He wanted to ask a lot of prying questions about gender expression and biology but also didn't want to directly pry. "Xeno-familiarity disconnect. They lecture us about it a lot in the xeno-bio field. People see something alien that looks like something familiar and slot it into that mental category, then are shocked when it suddenly turns out to be wrong."

"I'm babbling on like a total idiot," Vex said, downing the last of his drink. He poured more for both Theo and himself. "Enough about me, let's talk about something more interesting."

"World Cup? Federation Cup?" Theo said. "Or something else? I'm sure we've got something other than sports to talk about, I wouldn't want to be too cliche here..." He grinned.

Vex felt himself blushing slightly. "Alright, you have a point. Although the last Federation Cup was pretty much a bust. The Forty Fivers played dirty the whole time."

"Oh, hell, no," Theo said, immediately dropping that previous thought. "They won fair and square."

"What? Are you kidding me! Chambers spent like the entire time off-sides!"

"He most certainly did not," Theo said. "It may look like it, but if you check the actual recordings in 3d he's completely legal. And that's not even taking into consideration that Cygnus 4-5 is a 0.9g world and they were playing at a disadvantage under Earth gravity."

"Sorry, I forgot how much fun it was to talk about this stuff, I haven't had anyone to talk to in ages really. But you are right we don't need to be that cliche... Well, I guess I should start. I'm the first Unkari in Starfleet, well the first to really leave the empire for the service of another organization."

"That's cool. There must be a lot of pressure, though. I hear that's the case a lot of the time when there isn't a big group joining at once like you get when entire planet joins the Federation."

"Everyone at home was pretty worried about me," Vex admitted. "Niri are highly sought after as mates, I think they were afraid I was going to go and get myself blown up or something. What about you? Where are you from?"

"Luna," Theo said. "Earth's moon, that is, not the copy-cat orbiting New Athens. So I didn't have as far to go as you did."

"I visited there while I was at the academy," Vex said. "Seemed like a pretty cool place. I ran across some other guy earlier today that went there too, an enlisted engineering dude...Adam, Alexander... his name started with an A at any rate. Brothers or sisters?"

"No, I'm an only child, but I have a few cousins," Theo said. "Yourself? I take it your people do that sort of sibling relationship?"

Vex nodded and relaxed his guard slightly. Talking to Theo seemed easier than he would have anticipated. "Yes to the sibling relationship, although I am also an only child, my parents had pretty intense jobs and although I don't think they ever resented having me, they really enjoyed their careers."

"Huh. Looks like that's definitely a cross-cultural touchpoint there," Theo said. "What do they do?"

"My mothers a commander in the Unkari Navy and my father is a civilian advisor to the Empire's administration board," Vex answered. "What about your parents?"

"My mom's a nurse. My dad's the captain of a starship, the Corsair. They're actually not all that far from here last I heard, off toward the Tholian border."

"Actually, the more I thought about it the more I do remember seeing you on the practice fields," Vex blushed. "Not that I was stalking you or anything."

"I'm trying to think of something that wouldn't sound too vain," Theo said, "and I'm pretty much failing entirely."

"Being confident isn't the same as being vein," Vex pointed out. "You're a good looking guy, nothing to be ashamed of in that department. Uh, sorry about that, sometimes I forget the humans can find compliments like that somewhat... unwelcome sometimes."

"Oh, hey, no, feel free to compliment me as much as you want. Playing skills and scientific abilities are fair game as well."

"Your foot work was great," Vex said. "I mean the way that you out maneuvered that guy on Red Squad... actually he was cute too now that I think about it."

"Red squad," Theo scoffed. "Don't talk to me about Red Squad."

"Red Squad were always sore losers," Vex replied, pouring himself and Theo more to drink. "Some of them even tried to get me banned from the locker-rooms. And then when that didn't work, they tried to jump me after a game once."

"What?" Theo understood the individual words, but put together they didn't make any sense. "Were you hurt?"

"Oh, they ended up in the infirmary," Vex smiled. "We study a form of martial arts starting at the age of five that helps us focus our mind, well that and I was in the middle of my advanced close quarters combat class."

Theo shook his head. "You'd think the Academy would eventually realize that these elite squads are bad news. Red Squad, Nova Squad, Alpha Squad - have any of them ever come to good ends? They're never anything but a bunch of jerks who'd do anything to succeed."

"I know, the whole thing almost made me quit the team," Vex sighed.

"That's too bad, it'd have been pretty big loss for everyone."

"Really, I blame me staying on Auggy."

"Who's that?"

"He was one of the only guys at the academy that was completely comfortable around me. I mean don't get me wrong, August asked a lot of personal questions at first, although I think that was because he was actually curious about my biological make-up and not just being insensitive. He actually kept trying to set me up."

"Well, that's what Starfleet is all about, isn't it?" Theo said. "Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations. Sounds like your friend remembered that better than some people."

"I sort of wished he was here now," Vex sighed. "Not that meeting new people isn't great it's just that, well August really understood me. I probably sound stupid... I should just stop talking."

"Up to you," Theo said, spreading his hands. "It sounds like you need to vent a little."

"I mean have you ever had a friend like that, August had his annoying tendencies sure but he was always there for me, he made getting through the academy a lot easier."

"And now he's somewhere else and you've lost your support mechanism." Theo said. "I know the feeling. But look at it like this. You already made the jump from your homeworld to Starfleet Academy, where you didn't know anyone and weren't part of the prevailing culture. Compared to that, this is a pretty small step."

"I guess that's true," Vex shrugged. "I guess I should be happy there are some cute and interesting guys that want to get to know the new guy on board."

"That's the spirit," Theo said, trying not to preen. It would be unseemly. "And you're on a starship! On a deep-space mission! There's a clear positive trend here."

Vex smiled. "Yeah, I guess you are right. Smart and handsome, ladies and gentlemen look out."

Theo blushed and ducked his head. "Don't get your expectations too high. You haven't been around for some of my less intelligent moments."

Vex reached out placed a hand on Theo's shoulder. "Hey, you got me to relax that has to be worth something. And I'm a tactical/security officer I am sure there are plenty of people that say my whole department is full of 'less intelligent moments'."

"Well, sure, you've got the reputation as being the home of the lower-scoring third of the Academy entrance exams, but I always thought that was a bit unfair," Theo said. "But you can't spend that much time learning about the psychology and tactics of hundreds of species and cultures without having a few brain cells. I always suspected the dumb security brick routines was something they taught you in your first classes."

"Looks like you saw through our ruse," Vex smiled.

"It's all those animal cognition courses paying off," Theo said.

"Animal what now?" Vex asked.

"Xenobio studies on how fauna behaves," Theo elaborated. "You know, comparative social structures of wolves versus sehlat versus targs, starsailer neuroanatomy, and all that sort of thing."

"I have no idea what you just said, but you looked damn cute saying it."

"It means figuring out why an alien doggy doesn't act like an Earth doggy," Theo replied with exaggerated slowness.

"You also looked cute saying that," Vex smiled.

"Maybe I just look cute all the time," Theo said.

"And hot shirtless I would wager," Vex grinned.

"That also falls into the all the time category," Theo said. "As does vanity."

"Well, Theo for someone that I just met you are making me have all sorts of very... interesting thoughts about you," Vex replied.

"I hope it's a good interesting," Theo said.

Vex relaxed a bit back in his chair. There was something charming about the science officer, despite his obvious good looks. He realized he might have been staring to long at the other man when Theo gave him a questioning look.

"What, oh um sorry... I was just thinking about what this would be like back on my world."

Theo paused. There were quite a few ways that could be interpreted. There was the obvious human-centric one, but as Starfleet Academy had drilled into him, the potential results of getting the wrong impression started with the mortifying and got worse from there. You didn't even have to leave Federation space and visit the Klingons for it to involve blades; the Andorians were perfectly happy to cut off your ears if you said the wrong thing. Your first duty is to the truth, particularly truths that didn't involve interpersonal or interstellar incidents. "How do you mean?"

"Um, to be honest I would have probably already tried to take you back to my quarters, for some activities that humans do not usually do when meeting each other for the first time."

"Oooooooh. Um. I think you may have been hanging out with the more straight-laced side of humanity. Which, admittedly, is practically any cadet at the Academy these days. Including me. Not that I'm not flattered! I think I'll shut up now."

Vex grinned. "I like you Theo, you're insanely cute. Sometimes I forget that some humans still find sex so taboo."

"Tell you what," Theo said, "keep complimenting me and I'll let you take me out to do something fun. Soccer on the holodeck, say."

"Sounds like something I work toward, its always good to have goals."

"I hope that's not a pun," Theo said, "because if it is I'm going to have to cancel those plans."

Vex chuckled. "No pun intended."

"Tell you what, I'll send you my schedule and we can figure out when we've both got a good chunk of off-duty time. Sound good?"

"Sounds very good," grinned Vex "I look forward to hearing from you."

"Cool." Theo stood and picked up his tray. "I hate to eat and run, but I've got an early start tomorrow on lab work. I'll be in touch."

"I look forward to it Theo," Vex said.

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Ensign Theo Vega (npc Reynard)
Xenobiologist

Ensign Vex Krylore
Security Officer