Tiraa looked up at Lindsy through her thick, black eyelashes while her head was mostly still angled down toward her own plate. The corners of her lips twitched upward for just the briefest of seconds, and there was a knowing glint in her black eyes for an even briefer period. “Yes, I suspect a lot of late nights for you with your new… elevation.”
She used her fork to pick up a piece of the meat and one of the vegetables but didn’t eat it. “Would you like to try it?”
The woman wasn’t a stranger to trying new things, and felt it harmless enough “Sure, I wouldn’t mind. I am curious as to what it is. It does look delicious.” Lindsy cleared a small spot on her plate for Tiraa to place any of the food she may wish to share and slid the plate forward a bit. “As for my…elevation, it came as a surprise to me. I knew the Captain had been asking me to help run and pick up potential salvage tokens as well as procure some standard supplies, and listen to brokers that talked too much. An occupational hazard I suppose from my past experiences and working on other ships. But I suppose that makes me even more of a true Rigellian at heart.”
“Was it such a surprise?” Tiraa asked while she used her knife to nudge some of the rice onto the fork to give a complete tasting experience of what was on her plate, and then without dropping a single grain she moved it to Lindy’s plate and slid it all off with her knife in one smooth motion. As she did this, she reached out toward her not in body but in mind. It was gentle, there was no need for anything else, but she simply had to know if the woman was playing coy or if she was really that naive.
“For me it was. Typically I have helped before in other roles and maybe gotten a stipend but being assigned an additional role was quite a shift for me. I never expected to be up on deck two, but having my own space is quite nice. Privacy is a luxury here and so I am thankful for it.” In truth, it was nice after many years, to have her own real space again. Considering how she grew up and what she left back home, she certainly had been roughing it, so the reward was a welcome reprieve. For a moment she thought about her first night with Zedd, but also had a lot of doubt that he would’ve made the decision to move her up to deck two after one night together. Which told her it had been planned prior to her decision to share her feelings with the Captain.
“How is it going for you, getting settled in? Lindsy realized she had been talking about herself mostly which wasn’t polite.
“Well enough, though I’ve been having trouble sleeping the past few days.” The comment was harmless on the surface of course. She used her fork to gesture to the bite she had left on Lindsy’s plate. “It is spiced rathjik with the standard vegetables and rice which are boring compared to the meat but it all comes together to make a wonderful flavor.”
“Ah, thank you,” she replied. Lindsy took her fork and picked up a few pieces and tried it. As she chewed, she took notes of the spice and the balance with the flavors and the vegetables and rice. It was quite tender and she nodded while chewing and swallowing.
“This is quite good, I’ll make note of the dish and try it for dinner tonight. What specifically has been causing you trouble sleeping? I would think you could replicate bedding to your liking, or may have brought what you needed on your shuttle craft. It’s quite a gorgeous ship.” The woman had been around long enough to recognize levels of luxury and money when she saw it. It was one of many things she’d learned to have an eye for. As far as Orions themselves, her direct experience was limited and she typically went in without judgement. Some she had worked with had been great, some not.
“Thank you. I’m quite fond of it.” Tiraa smiled and paused to take a sip of the almost fluorescent purple juice in her glass. “My quarters are quite comfortable, but getting used to the noise of the ship will take time.”
"The noise settles eventually, but I can understand. A new ship is something different to get used to." Lindsy said. "Every ship has its own frequency and you stop hearing it once it becomes the sound of somewhere you live." She picked up her drink and took a sip. "The Dutchman runs quieter than most since the core upgrade too, which is really nice. Give it another week." Lindsy paused for a moment, finally able to actually see a very fine detail she had missed the other day. "Is it the core hum specifically or something else keeping you up?" The other woman's black eyes were a dead give away as to some of her abilities, likely easily hidden behind her beauty and the green skin. One thing draws attention from another.
“It isn’t the ship.” She answered with a simple smile on her beautiful face and then picked up another bite of her meal. It wasn’t a terribly specific answer on the surface, but it was answer enough if Lindsy could connect the dots.
The navigator took another bite of her food and had some of her soup as she listened and thought for a moment after. “I am sure you are looking forward to us leaving this planet and being around many less people. WIth a crew of only forty here, things should be much quieter.” Part of her did wonder at what level the Orion’s capabilities grew to, in her experience, telepaths were able to filter out a lot around them so as to not be overwhelmed. But not having had the experience herself, it wasn’t something she could directly speak to. It also was apparent her thoughts and feelings had likely been at least sensed, so Tiraa was also aware of her engagement with the Captain. However it wasn’t something she was going to talk with Tiraa about, certainly not somewhere public.