Tiraa’s first few hours on the ship had been interesting to say the least. Rallid was still absent from her side as he had gone to ensure the necessary adjustments were made to her quarters for her safety and comfort. Truthfully, it felt like she was missing her own shadow without his constant presence behind her, but she didn’t let her mind linger. Her time spent with Ragnar was still at the forefront of her mind. He was an interesting man with all his rough edges and charm, but his mind was what intrigued her more. She had of course been around others like herself, but it was quite rare and this had been an unexpected delight. True to her usual, she hadn’t lingered for too long, and once again found herself in the corridors of this new ship she would call home. She didn’t know for how long, but for now at the very least it was home.
She used her awareness of the minds around her to avoid exploring anywhere that was currently occupied by any of the crew; she was more interested in her personal tour than socializing again. There was time for that particular endeavor. A turbolift ride, more wandering, and eventually she found herself stepping through the doors of main engineering. It was dead silent outside the steady thrum of the warp core and general hum of the power grid. The white noise was strangely comforting. With confident steps she moved to the console in front of the warp core and activated it, deciding she wanted to do a bit of looking over things herself. After a few moments, she became aware of someone approaching with purpose from outside engineering, but she wasn’t inclined to move from the console.
Chief Engineer Avery Morgan had only been aboard Dutchman for about two days, but had the urge to get to Engineering and acclimate himself to the ship and its systems. He had dropped off his belongings, checked in with the Captain, and completed his medical evaluation, so it only made sense to get to work. Morgan had to admit that he was attracted to the Romulan medic. There was something about her that he couldn’t quite put a finger on. He entered main engineering to find a tall, dark haired woman standing at the console near the warp core.
“Mei-Lin, I see you beat me down here again. I thought we could work together on a level -one…..,” he said as the woman turned her head. She had green skin and dark eyes you could get lost in. Avery cleared his throat and called out. “You’re definitely not Mei-Lin.” He suddenly felt her eyes dig into him like a laser drill. “I’m Avery Morgan, the new Chief Engineer. Don’t believe we’ve met. You are….”
"Not Mei-Lin." Tiraa grinned as she spoke. Her tone was joking and warm, and as she turned fully to close some of the distance between them, it was impossible to miss her inviting presence. She stopped away enough from him to not make the conversation awkward as an introduction but gave enough room that she was nowhere near invading his personal space - it left the invitation for him to move closer. Her black eyes moved from his face down his body and then back up again where they settled on his enchanting blue eyes. For the briefest of seconds, her full lips quirked upward at the corners past the small, engaging smile she was already wearing. All of the men on this ship were quite handsome in their own appealing ways and while it was hardly a focus for her, it was not unnoticed nor unwelcome.
"My name is Tiraa Shai. I'm the First Officer." She placed a hand on her hip, and her head shifted just slightly into a mild tilt. "Do you prefer Avery, Morgan, Chief, Chief Morgan...?"
“Avery will do nicely. Glad to meet you, Tiraa. What brings you down to engineering? If you needed something, someone could have called first. It wasn’t necessary to come in person. How can I help you, Ms. Shai?”
“Tiraa is perfectly fine.” She chuckled and shook her head just slightly. “Nothing in particular brought me here, I’m simply exploring the ship. I’ll be happy to get out of your way if you had something to do.”
“No, not at all. Let’s walk and talk. Mei-Lin is probably on her way back anyway. We planned on doing some diagnostics on the anti-matter containment system. Tell me more about yourself, Tiraa, if you don’t mind. What’s your background? I also have a request, if I may. Ummm…I don’t have utilities to wear when I’m working. I’d rather not ruin my own clothes and I’d like something with pockets. I understand that resources are at a premium around here. Would you mind I replicated something?”
Tiraa stood patiently and listened to him. He bounced around faster than a rathjik fleeing from a predator; it was endearing in a certain way. Removing that, his words were mildly concerning to her. What kind of operation was Zedd running here if this man couldn't replicate some clothes? One manicured brow lifted slowly and her full lips pursed for the briefest of moments.
"Of course you can replicate what you need, Avery. That isn't a problem." If it was a problem, Zedd would need to deal with it. "Just be conservative about it for a while, and we'll get you anything fancier down the line, hm?" She smiled.
“Thanks for that. I brought a few necessities with me. I don’t need a lot. Rotate through the handful of outfits I brought along with me. As long as I can keep what I have clean, and some work clothes, l will be just fine,” Morgan replied. He suddenly found himself having a hard time concentrating. Tiraa was Orion, and Morgan could feel the pheromones coming from her. “I….have to get the maintenance log from the computer…..tell me….” Avery steadied himself on the nearby workstation. He took a deep breath and continued. “Where did you come from…I mean how did end up on Dutchman?”