JP: Lieutenant JG T'Ama & PNPC Ensign Rachel Flores - Thank You For Being A Friend

[Jalana]

((Flores & T’Ama’s Quarters - Deck 19, USS Constitution-B))

((Time Index: Two days into shore leave))

Rachel set down the PADD, at least having enough self-restraint not to throw it across the room. Dunsel had been patched up and she didn’t want to give T’Ama another reason to think that she was unstable. Wherever her roommate was. But it didn’t make her any less disappointed and disheartened by the results of the engineering competency test on the PADD screen in red letters. 62 percent. She had aced all her technical exams during retraining at Starfleet Academy. There was no excuse for this!

The door opened and T'Ama entered pushing a hovering anti-grav trolley with a packing crate on it. She tucked it along one wall.

T'Ama: Computer, set lights to 20% brightness.

The lights immediately dimmed. Did she care that her roommate was working in here? Not particularly. Rachel wouldn't be her roommate much long anyway.

Rachel looked up when the lights suddenly dimmed by 80% with a moment’s warning. She looked up and took note of T’Ama’s presence. But she’d seen T’Ama hundreds of times, that wasn’t an unusual sight. More interesting was the anti-grav trolley carrying a large crate.

Flores: ::With a hint of irritation:: No, it’s fine, I wasn’t using that or… what’s in the crate?

T'Ama removed her eye patch and looked around. Her right eye wasn't quite exactly the same as the other one anymore. Perpetually squinting to try to minimize the double vision. She grabbed the crate and dropped it on her bed.

T'Ama: I'm moving out.

That was news. Rachel just stared at the tabletop for a long minute of silence. She had guilt tripped T’Ama over this possibility the second she mentioned getting promoted to lieutenant junior grade. She was upset. Angry. Scared. But she took a moment to collect her thoughts and only gave the simplest acknowledgement of the news.

Flores: Oh.

T'Ama: I have been transferred to the USS Artemis.

The way she said it was very, very Vulcan. Devoid of emotion, matter of fact. Anyone who knew her well would know this usually meant she was upset, or grumpy, or stressed.

Flores: Right, sure.

T’Ama: ::grunts:: Mm.

Had Rachel been Vulcan this is probably where the conversation would have ended. A Vulcan would have accepted the news, maybe said something that mildly implied they might miss her if they had been particularly fond of her. But her roommate was not Vulcan, and lately hadn't been particularly stable even for a human, so she kept talking.

Flores: Without wishing to say I told you so, I did say as soon as you told me you’d gotten promoted that this would happen. Granted it’s to a different ship and not just another room. At least it finally- ::She trailed off.::

So much for being calm and collected and giving a well-considered response. Rachel stopped herself and held up a hand to indicate T’Ama shouldn’t say anything until her damaged brain caught up with her mouth. T'Ama turned from her packing to see the hand up, and waited in silence, squinting a little to try to eliminate the double vision.

Flores: No, I’m not gonna go there. Not again. ::Rachel frowned:: We’ve kind of been avoiding talking much since that little discussion. And I want to clear the air. I regret saying what I said. I just felt like life was, and is, collapsing around me. I’m still not on duty, my brain is still healing, and I’ve driven off one of the few remaining sources of familiarity. It’s scary.

T’Ama: It's not personal, and it was bound to happen eventually.

Both of those things were true. It was illogical to think their careers would progress at the same pace.

Flores: You might have wound up here by accident. But I like you, I’d like to consider you a friend. And I don’t have many of those here in this time. It’s been nice to have somebody who ::As she looked at her roommate, something finally caught her attention about her roommate’s face. And realized she had been wearing an eyepatch:: By the Great Bird of the Galaxy, what horrible injury happened to you?

T'Ama stared, head tilting slightly. Rachel liked her and considered her a friend? She didn't have many of those either. She felt like crying if the mere thought of doing that in front of someone wasn't deeply mortifying - and who knows how her eye would take it.

T’Ama: ::quietly and bitterly:: Something stupid happened and they say I should have it removed.

Some misfiring neurons deep in her brain took pleasure in that. Ha! So she wasn’t the only one to wind up horribly injured by dumb luck and stupidity. But the more rational part of her had regular person concerns like why T’Ama was losing her eye and how she needed support.

Flores: Removed? Why?

T'Ama: It's sensitive to light. ::gestures vaguely at the dimness:: Sees double. Painful. Can't keep it patched all the time or the optic nerve will die and then I won't be able to replace it.

Rachel sighed and shook his head. They really were having the worst of luck recently.

Flores: Aren’t we just two birds of a feather? Getting injured by stupid things.

T'Ama: I'm just not… ready to lose a body part. It's… scary.

It wasn't quite as awful as Rachel's situation. There were good things happening too, things she'd dreamed of and wanted, but also this huge thing that would alter her body - her life - forever. Everything was happening at once and she was just so tired.

She wanted to be angry still about T’Ama’s not-abandoning abandoning her. Her blood was still boiling over her minimal competency on the engineering exam. But the news had taken a lot of the wind out of her sails. Maybe now wasn’t the time to yell at her soon-to-be-ex-roommate. She was having the best and worst day of her Starfleet career so far simultaneously. Rachel fumbled for something eloquent or comforting to say. Scary. She understood things being scary.

Flores: I know what you’re going through.

T’Ama: ::raises an eyebrow:: Losing a body part?

A fair point. Rachel looked down at her own body, as if to remind herself that she had no artificial implants or body parts. That wasn’t what she meant. She should have thought through what she was going to say a bit more.

Flores: No, well, of course not. I mean, not directly, but I- ::Rachel paused:: I have watched a friend go through this before. Just with a hand and not with an eye.

T’Ama: Lystra?

Flores: Yeah, Lystra. She likes to brag about it, so you might already know, but I designed her prosthetic hand. You know, back when I was… smart. Worked with Doctor Whatshisname to test the design. I sat with her while she was getting prepped for surgery. Until recently I did regular maintenance on the hand. All that to say that when a friend needs me and is going through something like this I’ll be there. Wherever, whenever.

Rachel wasn’t really equipped to give T’Ama good support. They were both scared, both dealing with injuries that posed a serious change to their life circumstances. Nothing was ideal about this. But that was life in Starfleet.

T’Ama: Even if we aren’t on the same ship?

T’Ama paused her packing and sat next to Rachel on the couch, pressing both hands together with her knees.

Flores: If you want someone to be with you when… or to come visit after, or anything like that. ::She paused:: Not like I’ll be missing out on all the duty shifts I can’t do if I come visit.

T’Ama was a proud person, so Rachel wouldn’t be surprised if she would say no and not want anyone to see her in that state. But if she needed her she would be there.

T’Ama blinked at her for a few seconds and then did the most outrageously un-Vulcan thing she’d ever done: she threw her arms around Rachel and hugged her.

T’Ama: ::hugging Rachel:: I’m gonna miss you!

She was a bit surprised to see this side of T’Ama. The hugging, the crying, the earnest emotional admissions. Rachel returned the hug, trying to be the cool and collected one and failing miserably at it.

Flores: Hey, don’t cry, or I’m gonna- too late. ::Rachel trailed off, letting the tears do as they pleased:: I’m gonna miss you too, T’Ama.

T’Ama pulled back and wiped at her eyes. At least it didn’t sting her bad eye to cry.

T’Ama: Sorry. ::sniffling, weepily:: Thank you for being a friend.

Rachel shook her head while using her sleeve to wipe away the tears still pooling in her eyes. Were she not playing with one brain lobe tied behind her back there were so many more thoughtful and cogent things she’d like to say. T’Ama had been the accidental roommate she didn’t know she needed, someone who was there to pull her out of her shell whether she wanted her to or not. Another person on the ship besides Lystra she could call a friend.

Flores: No, thank you for being mine. I’ll always be your friend, T’Ama. Please don’t be a stranger. You know how to get in contact with me. ::Her voice cracked a bit:: Go show people on the Artemis how it’s done, ma’am.

Raining on T’Ama’s parade over her initial promotion was a regret she still struggled with. She’d never given her the proper due for earning her promotion to lieutenant. So, for the first and hopefully not last time, she addressed her properly and composed herself long enough to give a salute. Then she scurried off to her room to let her friend pack in peace without her blubbering. So much for a dignified goodbye.

No, not a goodbye. A “see you later”.

---
Lieutenant JG T'Ama
Acting Chief of Operations
USS Chin’toka
C240004T11

&

Ensign Rachel Flores
Engineering Officer
USS Constitution-B

===as simmed by===

Lieutenant Commander Laria Herren
Mission Specialist/Second Officer
USS Constitution-B
A239402AG0