The trill's gloved hands clasped the cooling tea cup with an anxiety that went unreflected in her expression. Even the proximity of the feral cat 'Fairy' was secondary to her current concern: the first two pages had perplexed her beyond any willingness to investigate past ascertaining the the texts' origin and purpose. Those facts directed her to the appropriate expert who could, calling upon her knowledge of interpersonal relations, no doubt shed light on the enigmatic gesture of the human Major.
Said expert, counselor Katriel Sedai, was across from her, just now powering up the PADD in question.
"Is there a specific implication associated with, ah, giving someone a children's book in human culture that I am unaware of?" The trill asked, pre-review.
"Giving a children's book specifically? No." Katriel relaxed back in her seat, crossed one leg over the other, and balanced the booting PADD in her inclined lap.
"But individual gift giving habits are very particular, even within a single species. A gift that seems totally appropriate to one person may feel entirely too intimate or strange to another." The counselor shrugged with her explanation and turned her eyes over the digital page. Whatever other words she might have wanted to add died in her throat as she studied the content of the book.
A couple more rapid page turns resulted in an unguarded snort of laughter.
"But individual gift giving habits are very particular, even within a single species. A gift that seems totally appropriate to one person may feel entirely too intimate or strange to another." The counselor shrugged with her explanation and turned her eyes over the digital page. Whatever other words she might have wanted to add died in her throat as she studied the content of the book.
A couple more rapid page turns resulted in an unguarded snort of laughter.
'Particular'. That was one way of putting it. Chassy would prefer 'infuriatingly unpredictable', and the counselor's reaction solidified her preference.
"Wh-.. ..what." She took the spot next to Katriel, giving the electronic page a petulant stare. The two pages she'd seen, with its melancholy looking reptile and the overweight unidentifiable bird on the following page, both of whom were announcing that 'All my friends are dead' did not incite in giggles, just confusion.
"I believe I'll need, ah, a step-by-step deconstruction here."
"Wh-.. ..what." She took the spot next to Katriel, giving the electronic page a petulant stare. The two pages she'd seen, with its melancholy looking reptile and the overweight unidentifiable bird on the following page, both of whom were announcing that 'All my friends are dead' did not incite in giggles, just confusion.
"I believe I'll need, ah, a step-by-step deconstruction here."
Katriel tried, and largely failed, to sort out her amused expression when it was clear that Chassy was being left out of the loop. "I suppose it goes without saying that humor is also particular to individuals. Or cultures, really. I'm going to guess the person who gave this to you was human? I don't think I'm quite an expert on deconstructing humor patterns, but..."
She studied the page again, meditatively. "Do the Trill have any records of extinct indigenous species?"
Katriel pointed at the image of the fluffy avian. "This is a ... well, highly caricatured drawing of a dodo, which became extinct during the earlier part of human development. The reptile on the previous page is likewise an extinct organism, though it died out far before humans had even evolved."
"I suppose if you try to replace these two images with an extinct Trill species..." She let her tone trail off, seeing if Chassy might try the thought experiment.
She studied the page again, meditatively. "Do the Trill have any records of extinct indigenous species?"
Katriel pointed at the image of the fluffy avian. "This is a ... well, highly caricatured drawing of a dodo, which became extinct during the earlier part of human development. The reptile on the previous page is likewise an extinct organism, though it died out far before humans had even evolved."
"I suppose if you try to replace these two images with an extinct Trill species..." She let her tone trail off, seeing if Chassy might try the thought experiment.
"Major Matt Svenson, yes." The woman was one part relieved, one part disconcerted, and one part amused that she was putting forth as much effort to this as she was. That third part was mostly Quaen's.
"..I see. It doesn't take a biologist to see why a a creature that ungainly would fall prey to extinction; literally, I expect." What a weird creature. She reached over Katriel's arm to flip from one image to the other.
"There are Trill species with which I can replace those two, such as the predecessor to the feather-ape and the yellow skutfish, but I still don't grasp why being the last of their species is laughable."
"..I see. It doesn't take a biologist to see why a a creature that ungainly would fall prey to extinction; literally, I expect." What a weird creature. She reached over Katriel's arm to flip from one image to the other.
"There are Trill species with which I can replace those two, such as the predecessor to the feather-ape and the yellow skutfish, but I still don't grasp why being the last of their species is laughable."
Mild disappointment entered her eyes when Chassy failed to laugh and so she turned her stare back to the obviously put-upon dodo bird. But eventually she had to sigh.
"I suppose there's some additional element in the morbidity," she said dryly. "I'm afraid it might be beyond my ability to explain, though. I could probably make up something about laughing being the only acceptable alternative to fear that could sound convincing. But it's probably not so simple."
"Major Svenson," she repeated. "From... the 26th? Was this from last evening?"
"I suppose there's some additional element in the morbidity," she said dryly. "I'm afraid it might be beyond my ability to explain, though. I could probably make up something about laughing being the only acceptable alternative to fear that could sound convincing. But it's probably not so simple."
"Major Svenson," she repeated. "From... the 26th? Was this from last evening?"
Not immune to the counselor's expression, Chassy, too, continued to eye the awkward fowl as if time would unravel the humor secreted away in its composition.
"Yes," The absent-minded response about the timeframe, "He occasions on the Outpost when his ship docks."
Cause for the preoccupation? She hooks thumb and forefinger to her chin, boring into the electronic screen with her stare as she enlightens the Betazoid:"Of course I've engaged in humor to override fear in perilous times, but I've never had reason, or opportunity, to consider it while not in immediate danger. It doesn't seem..practical normally; it's importance lying in the diffusion of stress in tense situations...when Razor and I were stranded on that desert planet, and, ah.."
A soft, exasperated sigh and a negating shake of her head later, the Trill closes the topic before it even opens.
"When I next meet the Major, what am I expected to say, presuming I 'got' the humor?"
"Yes," The absent-minded response about the timeframe, "He occasions on the Outpost when his ship docks."
Cause for the preoccupation? She hooks thumb and forefinger to her chin, boring into the electronic screen with her stare as she enlightens the Betazoid:"Of course I've engaged in humor to override fear in perilous times, but I've never had reason, or opportunity, to consider it while not in immediate danger. It doesn't seem..practical normally; it's importance lying in the diffusion of stress in tense situations...when Razor and I were stranded on that desert planet, and, ah.."
A soft, exasperated sigh and a negating shake of her head later, the Trill closes the topic before it even opens.
"When I next meet the Major, what am I expected to say, presuming I 'got' the humor?"
Chassy's query inexplicably startles another chuckle out of Katriel.
"Oh, I haven't the faintest idea. I may understand the humor in it, but it continues to remain something of ... a curious gift. I suppose it could be ironically apropos considering your Joined Trill state....."
Though the Quaen symbiont doesn't seem like the type to be entertained by that bit of irony. Katriel didn't voice the thought outloud.
"Was there any context that might explain why he gave it to you? It's not your birthday, is it? Not celebrating any anniversaries or promotions..."
Her glance sharpened at that. "Or is it? Congratulations on Commander, by the by."
"Oh, I haven't the faintest idea. I may understand the humor in it, but it continues to remain something of ... a curious gift. I suppose it could be ironically apropos considering your Joined Trill state....."
Though the Quaen symbiont doesn't seem like the type to be entertained by that bit of irony. Katriel didn't voice the thought outloud.
"Was there any context that might explain why he gave it to you? It's not your birthday, is it? Not celebrating any anniversaries or promotions..."
Her glance sharpened at that. "Or is it? Congratulations on Commander, by the by."
No, the symbiont was not entertained, but Skyler brushed the thought aside before they could collectively start brooding over why. The next thought, unspoken too many a time of late, met less success and a very dry tilt of a smile as she expressed it:
"From Captain and research head to consultant and commander, and no spots blanched at offering congratulations." A gloved hand lifted to still the counselor: "I'm not, ah, ..I'm not bitter. I chose it. I just find other peoples' blithe congratulatory offerings entertaining..."
"..but no, besides that particular event, there is nothing worth celebrating. Though the man did express that this would 'make me laugh', and that I needed it more than he. ..perhaps the 26th is not providing their MACO team with sufficient counseling personnel?"
"From Captain and research head to consultant and commander, and no spots blanched at offering congratulations." A gloved hand lifted to still the counselor: "I'm not, ah, ..I'm not bitter. I chose it. I just find other peoples' blithe congratulatory offerings entertaining..."
"..but no, besides that particular event, there is nothing worth celebrating. Though the man did express that this would 'make me laugh', and that I needed it more than he. ..perhaps the 26th is not providing their MACO team with sufficient counseling personnel?"
Katriel quirked an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I understand what you're implying, Commander. I've sufficient work in fleet here, I hardly need to go looking for it among our allied fleets, however nice their officers might be."
She clicked through a few more pages of the book. "I suppose he must have just observed an even more unusually dour expression on your face and deemed you were in need of a pick-me-up. In which case, you know, the appropriate response would just be a simple, 'thank you, that's very kind'."
She clicked through a few more pages of the book. "I suppose he must have just observed an even more unusually dour expression on your face and deemed you were in need of a pick-me-up. In which case, you know, the appropriate response would just be a simple, 'thank you, that's very kind'."
"Even more unusually dour?" The wording didn't escape her, and her surprise was comically authentic. "...am I prone to 'unusually dour'?"
The idea was just as unsettling as what flashed by on the screen: "...was that a potted plant?"
The idea was just as unsettling as what flashed by on the screen: "...was that a potted plant?"
"I was joking," was Katriel's lightly delivered response, when confronted the description of being dour.
Then she was torn between mirth and surprise at the page with the pleading potted plant. She tried to turn her chuckle into a throat-clearing. Surely Chassy knew at least someone who was an irresponsible plant owner. Razor, perhaps?
"Really, you don't find this page funny either?"
Then she was torn between mirth and surprise at the page with the pleading potted plant. She tried to turn her chuckle into a throat-clearing. Surely Chassy knew at least someone who was an irresponsible plant owner. Razor, perhaps?
"Really, you don't find this page funny either?"
Given the insta-growth frown, she didn't.
Taking the reins single-fingeredly, the Trill rifled through the digital content with a grimaced complaint: "It's not as if I don't understand humor."
"What's this one, with the.. agricultural implement?" She tapped the screen, avoiding the text until the graphical backstory was explained.
Taking the reins single-fingeredly, the Trill rifled through the digital content with a grimaced complaint: "It's not as if I don't understand humor."
"What's this one, with the.. agricultural implement?" She tapped the screen, avoiding the text until the graphical backstory was explained.
"That would be the Grim Reaper. A popular personification of death, for Earthlings."
Armed with a few comparisons from other planetary cultures, she lifted away her hand and subjected herself to the humor. 'This job makes me feel so alive', so spoke the Grim Reaper.
She heh'd, smugly leaning back into the couch pillows at her success in understanding at least one of these odd human jokes. She didn't have to announce it, Katriel already knew.
"You've, ah, met the major, then?"
She heh'd, smugly leaning back into the couch pillows at her success in understanding at least one of these odd human jokes. She didn't have to announce it, Katriel already knew.
"You've, ah, met the major, then?"
Katriel smirked when Chassy finally got one.
"Major Svenson? I'm ... not exactly sure. If he was the only one from 26th on station yesterday evening, though, then the officer I spoke to must have been him. He didn't exactly introduce himself, though I recognized his face and uniform, of course."
"Major Svenson? I'm ... not exactly sure. If he was the only one from 26th on station yesterday evening, though, then the officer I spoke to must have been him. He didn't exactly introduce himself, though I recognized his face and uniform, of course."
"Other members of his team may have come aboard as well, but he was the only one I noted when I departed the deck. Dark hair, short..ah..." She floundered a moment over her internal recollection of the man, then gave up with both palms lifting in the cultural shrug: "To be honest, it's difficult to describe humans besides hair colour variations. No spots to differentiate them with."
"But, ah, if he ambled into conversation with you in such a way, I wouldn't be surprised. He is quite congenial, and very...open, I suppose is the term."
"But, ah, if he ambled into conversation with you in such a way, I wouldn't be surprised. He is quite congenial, and very...open, I suppose is the term."
Katriel gave Chassy's spots a skeptical once over. Differentiating between Trill by just their spots seemed about as plausible as recognizing unique leopard prints. That is to say, not at all. She kept this opinion to herself, though.
"It was probably him, then. Though he seemed quite pensive when speaking to me. But friendly. And he's got ... quite a sharp memory."
"It was probably him, then. Though he seemed quite pensive when speaking to me. But friendly. And he's got ... quite a sharp memory."
If there's one thing unerringly imprinted on the Trill psyche, regardless of where one was raised or by what, there is always that pride, to some degree, in one's spots. Katriel's inspection was met with an subtle preen, reddish hair brushed behind an ear, neck turned to expose the continuous pattern diving beneath her uniform collar.
"His senses overall seem quite sharp for a human. ..ah, speaking of assessments...I was, ah. ...reviewing the available postings within Task Force Argo...and thought perhaps you might offer some insights, as friend, counselor and, ah, previous junior officer."
"His senses overall seem quite sharp for a human. ..ah, speaking of assessments...I was, ah. ...reviewing the available postings within Task Force Argo...and thought perhaps you might offer some insights, as friend, counselor and, ah, previous junior officer."
Katriel blinked once slowly.
"Certainly, I'd be happy to give my opinion. Though I don't know how much help I could be. My path has always been relatively obvious... compared to yours."
"Certainly, I'd be happy to give my opinion. Though I don't know how much help I could be. My path has always been relatively obvious... compared to yours."