Star Trek: Starbase 777 - southern-foothills

It'd required some convincing for him to elect to take any of his shore leave at all. He'd wanted to work, to be where he happened to be easily able to go check on his eldest son from time to time or meet him for drinks. But, convinced he had been, by Tha'ron. His son had wanted to go to Mol'Rihan, wanted to attend the house meeting as normal. Wanted his father and his younger brother along as support, though Vara'l had been forced to work a bit before he'd successfully coaxed Tha'ron to take full advantage of having his father around to carry stuff for him. He'd relented and done so in the end, thankfully long before they'd reached the start of the more even part of the path to the house compound. A process that happened to have taken a little while, as they'd headed there at Tha'rons pace. A pace that had, finally, started to slow. "You know, Thar', if you want I can always com the compound and ask for them to bring a hover vehicle to come pick us up?" Vara'l offered to his son then as he observed Tha'rons continued struggle along with crutches and the prosthetic. "You've done a fair bit with the prosthetic on and for that matter, without it on, we can work up to the whole walk.."

Crutches forward, step pause, crutches forward. That's all his world had reduced too on this walk, before he'd elected to try out the prosthetic again and after. Just the process of movement, as they navigated the path to the compound, a process he was forced by necessity to be focused utterly on. Necessity and the fact he happened to have a objective. He was going to get to the compound under his own power. Yes, it happened to be pretty soon in the grand scheme of things after he'd been injured but well. Tha'ron wanted this. Wanted to do this this way, wanted to push himself. Elements he needed to recover from this and to get back to this. He needed to learn to cope with his new leg, with the fact he'd lost a leg and to get back to it. Back to work, back to his job! He placed his crutches ahead of him before and struggled along for another step. Did so as, when his father asked his question, Tha'ron proceeded to shoot a look at them, glared at his father. "Father, I need to do this."

Steel grey eyes fixed on steel grey eyes then as Vara'l considered his son and remained in his sons storm-grey gaze. Assessed how Tha'ron looked, considered how they'd spoken. Decided then. "Then, I'm taking everything weight wise off you-" He started then before he snorted at his sons look. "I mean, your PADD, whatever you've got in your pockets, your other bag.." The Romulan continued then. "Telim might not be able to carry a lot of the stuff but, I certainly can." "This first time at least, you don't need to make this journey any harder for yourself, son." He stated to the other as he mustered a smile at them. "I'm here."

Tha'ron considered his father for a moment longer then before, decision reached, he sighed and relented with a slight nod. "Alright, father." He smiled a bit then. "Thank you." As he slowed to a stop and allowed his father to approach, worked with him as he relieved himself of everything that wasn't something he happened to need to carry. Once free of all the stuff and that final bag, Tha'ron looked his father over again and affected a tired wince. "I feel like I've made you into one of those Terran donkey's Father." His tone apologetic as he issued the soft observation. "You sure you're okay with this?"

Vara'l nodded firmly at his sons question. "Of course I'm sure of it." He chuckled then before he added. "You're my son, whatever I can do to help I'll do." He then looked himself over and noted, after he paused and sipped at bottle of water, which he put away before he offered both his sons bottles of water of their own. "And, I think that I make quite the good donkey, I think!" The Romulan declared!

Tha'ron laughed at that one! "Thanks to you, I understand what the Terrans mean about Dad jokes!" He chuckled happily then before he nodded toward the compound. "Shall we get moving again?" Once he received a answer to that, Tha'ron resumed his forward movement then, his focus returned once more to the placement of the crutches then his legs or well, leg and prosthetic leg. It was on that that his focus remained for the rest of the journey as he struggled along with his father to one side of him and his younger brother behind him. Struggled, occasionally having to pause to drink and rest a brief moment though he managed to continue. Eventually, he managed to get to the compound's entrance. Managed to get there before, as others of the house approached and intercepted them, he finally relented and accepted a offer of transport. After all, he'd managed to make it under his own steam to the compound entrance as he wanted. That was good enough for now. Oh, he fully intended though to do further than that next time he attempted that walk. But that was next time. For now, he was satisfied!

Sometime later, while Tha'ron happened to be with the house doctors and being watched over by his grandmother, Vara'l elected to find his way to the compounds temple to the elements. Headed through the compound proper, the xB greeted those people he knew directly warmly, did so though he declined to stop for a longer chat. No. He wanted to get to the temple, not spend a hour or two chatting with someone, so that's where he headed, where he ended up. Before the large dark wooden doors of a place he'd frequented a good few times now. A place dedicated to faith, to the elements, to a belief he'd maintained throughout his life for the most part. "Here we are." He'd muttered to himself then as he reached out to the doors, traced the wood and decoration with one metal ribbed hand and one plain one. Traced it before, with a push, he entered the place of flickering flame and quiet prayer. Headed in there, greeted those he deemed needing greeting and selected a place to sit, to pray, to contemplate. Vara'l remained there for a time, unmoored from all else but his thoughts, lost in quiet meditation.

Into this quiet place entered one who'd not tended usually, to come to such places as this. At least not when some large event happened to be going on like the family get together. No. Normally, if she elected to come here with her family, she happened to spend most her time with her other half and her kid. She'd only deviated from that tendency thanks to the fact her other half had organised 'finger painting' and other activities for a bunch of the youngsters. So. She happened to have time on her hands, being one who happened to not possess the skill in such creative activities her love happened to possess in spades. Time she'd used to visit a part of the compound she'd honestly not seen cause to visit before. The temple. A thing of faith that existed in this compound of smiths, weapons makers and others of the house Hara. Faith. You had faith in skill, though you never allowed it to make you sloppy. That was all. She appreciated some saw something in all that stuff but well. She'd lived and worked under cover, as part of the underground, been exposed to the empire through its fleet. What elements worth faith would have permitted the Tal Shiar to exist? Faith. No, that wasn't the reason she headed there, visited the temple. No. She wanted to experience the building, partake of the architecture, whatever painted decorations they'd indulged in in the interior. To that end, once she reached the doors, she headed straight in. Stepped confidently through the doors before she slowed her steps to take in all she passed, the entrance corridor and then the rooms beyond. Each space enjoyed as she passed through it. Enjoyed until she came to where people happened to be praying. Arrived at it and spotted someone, spotted the glint of implant metal as it glimmered in the fire light. Her cousin. Vara'l. Hmm.

21:56

Thoughtful, as she stopped still for a moment, Mae'ra considered the other and debated her next steps. Considered all she happened to know about him. All she picked up while they were here, the people who talked about his eldest son, the revelation the lad had lost a leg. Assessed her mental file on the CTO for a time as she just watched him. Considered this former Republic, former Free State Navy officer, former Imperial Navy officer. Wondered about him, how he'd react to this before she cleared her throat. Greeted him. "Jolan tru, cousin."

Vara'l twitched as the voice issued out from one side of him, a new presence that had turned out to not be here to pray but had seemingly just greeted him. Just called him cousin. Grey eyes flicked open then as Vara'l turned, prayer forgotten for a time as he fixed this 'cousin' with his grey-hued gaze. "Jolan tru." He started then as he looked at the person, wracked his brains for a name to be connected to the face before him. A name he recalled after a few moments. "Cousin Mae'ra, I didn't expect you here, how are you?" The Romulan xB inquired as he slipped to his feet, approached them, stopped before he got too close. "I..didn't know you were of the faith."

She noted that, how he stopped just out of reach. Saved her the trouble of moving slightly backward, that happened to. She reckoned that'd be the Empire era Romulan in them, she supposed. Hara or no, both ensured they remained out of knife distance. A habit she suspected neither of them would ever shake, she supposed. Imperial Romulan navy man from the Matriarchal family or 'Imperial Romulan' from the Underground. They'd departed from that time of knives but that time of knives hadn't relinquished its hold on them both. Just as the tendency for secrets, for the holding of ones tongue in the face of such habits, snatched away any chance for such tendencies to be commented on. Left just the smile she mustered with a counter-intellegence operatives training. One she injected with a warmth she didn't quite feel for this man she knew had served in two fleets she despised, been exposed to the Tal Shiar. "Cousin Vara'l." She started then as she smiled, gestured about the place and continued. "I had some time free and honestly wanted to experience the architecture and decoration of this place." Mae'ra continued then before she idly and quietly chuckled and added. "I'm not of the faith, no." "Just here to look around and well, now I saw you, to chat with a cousin I've rarely spoken too."

23:31

"It's been some time since the days of those house meets on Chaverre, you in your dress uniform I in mine." She chuckled then before, as she eyed other temple goers, Mae'ra asked. "Shall we step outside, talk more?" Thought for a moment and then added. "The sparring circle's got nobody using it at present, it'll be private."

He was most certainly not a person who could have seen through how the other mustered that polite display. The smile and everything that seemed to be. No. All he just saw was someone who smiled at him. Smiled a smile that perhaps seemed somewhat warm, something which surprised him given what he suspected of her past activities but well. At least a smile indicated perhaps that this wouldn't be a encounter that turned...awkward. At least not initially, he supposed. "That's fair enough, the house I feel made a good choice when it came to the architect they plumped on for this temple." "V'tel tr'Kymyra knows his work." Vara'l continued as he too looked around the temple, paused as he looked at the wall of the lost that wall of names of the myriad dead. Muttered a soft prayer for the dead before he mustered another smile and looked back to Mae'ra. Watched her as the other spoke, referred to one of the last times they'd met properly. "That has been some time indeed." The Romulan xB agreed then before he looked to himself then looked to the other. "Quite happily rid of the uniform." He mused as he elected to omit the fact he would have preferred to not have lost his first naval uniform on account of the Borg. "I'm certainly amenable to a chat." Vara'l continued on to say before, at her suggestion, he nodded and gestured toward the way out. "That sounds agreeable, shall we head there now?"

"I suppose." She hummed thoughtfully then before she added. "I'm not entirely a fan of V'tel's work, he draws too much from old Imperial schools of architecture for my liking but-" She looked around the room, its interior considered as she then grinned. "-I can see why people like it here, I suppose. " She lapsed into silence as she spotted his glance toward the wall, noted how he prayed. Noted that and was reminded again of his Borg implants. Reminded of that as she looked to the wall, felt her expression soften as the thought proceeded to strike her. How many names on the wall happened to be familiar to him? Vara'l had lost people just as she happened to have. But, unlike him, she'd not been on a ship who fell to the borg and was assimilated. That caused her some food for thought for a time. Thinking as he prayed, as she waited for his prayer to stop. Waited and then, as the other then continued to speak, nodded a bit. "Aye, last time I saw you properly you lacked a fair bit of the metal work you're currently in possession of." The Romulan mused then before, as the other stated they were happily rid of the uniform, she chuckled a bit. "Same here, much prefer the Starfleet one." She then nodded at his gesture and question then. "Brilliant." Mae'ra started. "That sounds good to me, lead on" Before she followed the other out of the temple, down the road and toward the sparring circle. Followed him and occasionally well, chatted with him as they went. Small talk, tense small talk granted, but that was what they engaged in as they went. Two cousins who'd walked fairly different roads in life and had not seen each other for a while. Some discomfiture was, Mae'ra reckoned, expected. Once they finally reached the sparring circle, Mae'ra stepped smoothly over the raised circle border bar and looked around it. "Here we are, nice and private." She hummed then before she added. "We can chat in peace."

00:07

As she looked about the space, her eyes alighted upon a small selection of sparring blades that still rested on a rack in the space. "We could-" She then started to suggest. "..Chat while we spar, if that's agreeable and you still remember how to use a sword.." Mae'ra then suggested then..

Vara'l watched the other as he followed them, crossed the border of the circle and looked around then. Considered their surroundings before, at the others words, his gaze snapped back to them. Focused on Mae'ra. The other considered, their offer considered then as he stood there. Watched them, wondered after what they'd elected to say. "Well." He started then. "That's certainly a suggestion." The Romulan xB commenced then before he arrived at his decision. "I'm amenable to a sparring contest and a chat. " "I do remember how to use a sword, after all."

Two swords selected from the racks, Mae'ra picked up on sparring sword and selected another for herself and focused on him. "Well then, show me." The half-deaf Romulan declared then before she launched into the opening stage of a series of strikes with her sword. With that, the duo started to exchange blows as they worked about the sparring circle. As they exchanged blows, they at least occasionally talked though some moments of silence arrived and departed whenever focus snatched away the chance for a chat. Both of them chatted about a fair few different things, most what might be considered more innocent subjects of discussion. Experiences on the station, job related matters, family stuff and Tha'ron. Some subjects turned out to be less innocent though of course. Mae'ra happened to have finally grabbed a moment to talk with a 'imperial' cousin of hers. She used that as fully as she could. She needed information after all, how Vara'l happened to be now where his sympathise happened to lie. All of that. Mae'ra worked on getting what she needed for that. She somewhat struggled at points to get what she wanted from the conversations, but she certainly attempted to get what she needed from the chat! When they finally finished their conversation, Vara'l and Mae'ra happened to have a good few bruises more than they had when the 'conversation' had started. They also well, happened to know eachother a bit better.