To: ENS Sovum, V (@Veneela) CC: ~~ From: CAPT Mirazuni, A Subj: Not a good friend
Veneela,
I feel like I owe you an apology. Or several.
I apologise for not being a good friend to you. You have to suffer my coldness and my indifference. I will admit, making friends has not been easy for me; I’ve preferred to focus on my work than make friends. And I also cannot stand most people.
You have put up with me in spite of all that and that’s a rare occurrence. Not many people have managed to do that.
Listen, this is all new to me. Everything. The ship, the fleet, command… everything. I’m not the best with change and this has been the biggest change in my life to date. Your friendship has helped, but I’m afraid I’ve not extended the same to you.
I know you dream of becoming a doctor, and that you wish to get in touch with your Romulan heritage. If you want, I will really endeavour to help you achieve both of those goals. I have seen how capable you are, and I know you can be a great doctor. If you could extend your patience to my mentorship, I would be honoured to help you.
It honestly won’t be easy and I won’t fault you for saying no. But I feel I owe it to you. And because I see you as a friend.
On an unrelated note, I did receive a message from DS16. Guess who got sent a scarf? They’re going to keep up the ruse; I think they want to send messages to him on my behalf. I couldn’t say no.
To: CAPT Mirazuni, A (@Sam) CC: ~~ From: ENS Sovum, V Subj: RE: Not a good friend
Ayesha,
You don’t owe me an apology or an explaination.
Indifference and coldness often times can be looked at compassionately. I may not understand how you feel, nor do I have empathic abilities to alert me of such, but I can tell when things have just become too much. Making friends is, as you alluded to, sometimes a challenge. When you spend so much time looking forward, you forget to look around and see there are others, willing to help you. You only need to ask.
I wouldn’t say I have ‘put up with you’ any more than I would classify it as tolerating you. We all have our quirks, Human or not. With that all in mind, you mention upfront you are not good with change, yet you intend on changing your day-to-day operations in the pursuit of helping me?
I enjoy our friendship Ayesha, but I must question if this is the right choice to make. I do not wish to throw more on your shoulders if you are unprepared or unwilling to be a bit more flexible with expectations. I am not declining, but I think it should be thought about and discussed before you rush headlong into a choice spurned on by emotional guilt.
You’re too hard on yourself. The fleet, and myself, care about you. Thank you for being there for me even if you didn’t think you were.
To: ENS Sovum, V (@Veneela) CC: ~~ From: CAPT Mirazuni, A Subj: Not a good friend
Veneela,
It’s not guilt, really, it’s something that I should have done earlier. It wouldn’t be a great change and we could integrate it into our days as best as we can. Practising medicine for me is not a chore.
As I said, it would be an honour to mentor you and it is not like I won’t benefit from it either. If you feel like you will benefit from it, then I will help, no questions asked.
Please don’t feel like any request you ask of me for your own self improvement will be burden.
To: CAPT Mirazuni, A CC: ~~ From: ENS Sovum, V Subj: RE: Not a good friend
Ayesha,
If you feel this strongly about it, I will happily accept but I do not wish to take from your normal duties as a Captain of a starship. I know I can benefit from your knowledge and expertise. I appreciate your offer on this matter.
//SIGNED//
Veneela Sovum
Ensign
Deep Space 13 Medical
