Lerakricks I once was considered a spy, All accusations merely a lie. The Khre'Riov mistook, She ruled with a hook, But never could give me the eye. There once was a girl from deep space. She had quite the uncommon-looking face. But when she yelled across the ship, And gave tr’Pexil much lip, His response only to give her chase. There once was a Daise in engineering, Her methods were quite domineering. To everyone she saw, They were simply a flaw. But tr’Pexil still found her endearing. --- Early History Those years ago, Between the cold metal, Even colder heart, I met...her. Heart, full of rage. The impudent engineer, Marching in. The newest and the best of her kind thought she. Thought of no one but her own, Own skills and down self. Show her I would, Stab her heart, Through the veins, start at the gut, Wine would be of the finest year, Quickest death. Sadly, my own weakness, Pulled me back from the brink of thine demise. I lacked conviction, Soul nor Body. Rather we left each other in anger. Our paths would diverge. Our paths would intertwine. You rose quickly in rank, Skills proved worthy. Deeds let me know things would change. Keeping pace a challenge. Try as I might you, Surpassed me, Bested me, Mocked me, Ignored me. I was well below reproach, Beneath you in skill. The pain proved hardening. My mood. My soul. Yours already crystallized by time and element, Water, air, earth, No, of fire. A cinder lay where you heart should be. Decency long departed. Was it ever there? Mystery with no answer. Time moves on, People too. Except for us, We remained together apart, Worked side by opposite side. I began to look up to you, All the while a cold gaze peered down on me. A desire of respect you stole from me, Not now, but years ago. My being crushed, Under your boot, Under your thumb. Others found her equally cruel, Silently they spoke of the rigid line, A line laid out by their Daise. Rigid, Ne’er to waver. Perfection the goal, Cost no object. An object did have cost: Her core, Herself, Her. Can’t Stop You live in my dreams While awake or in slumber For many a turn Beach Beach and the warm sun Violet treats melting quickly Thug spoils good time Shore Left Invitation sent Waiting on homeworld for not Stood up with no word Wanted My want was so bad, It became harder to think. From the shadows you had, Given me none to drink. Those many years I pined, For a love cold as ice. My advances only hers to rescind, Like a broken device. We two on the shuttle, I doubted my heart, Second thoughts nearly did scuttle, What felt like a fresh start. On the Talon finally did express, Though now our love seems a mess.

“Lhlli (Back of Hand)” Joint Log of t'Ditsy & tr'Pexil Lerak averted his gaze as he entered main engineering. He had not expected to be back so soon. The four painters made quick work of the punishment N'Dak surely intended to take the good part of a duty shift. "No one could know what happened in the brig," tr'Pexil thought. A sense of shock overcame him. During the entire walk to main engineering his mind repeated the incident: Crack! Crack! CRACK! Lerak would bury himself in work, so much he could forget. A console begged his attention. He logged in. Many of the workers in engineering were staring at Lerak as he entered, almost as if they'd already heard what had happened in security. With the way rumors flew on the ship, they probably did. Some actually seemed... scared. t'Ditsy was there, already working, though she didn’t even hazard a glance in his direction. Power levels, structural integrity even the hull repairs...all good. This console offered no solace in the slightest. Lerak felt t'Aehjae tug pull at his arm. "Umm, Daise?" It was not the Daise'Dheno, but one of the shift engineers wanting a sign off on some extra work for the port nacelle. "Very well, see to it," Lerak replied as he signed the ISD. The engineer appeared scared, which puzzled him. No one had ever feared him as long as he served here. Other than the new work, everything was either on or ahead of schedule. With no reason to stay seated, tr'Pexil logged off. Perhaps random checks of engineer's work would occupy his thoughts. With ISD in hand he began his walk. "Aur report, Daise," a cold voice said at his elbow. An ISD was thrust into his face and released suddenly without waiting to see if he would take it. t'Ditsy turned away, stalking back across engineering. tr'Pexil did not see the face, but the back of their head he knew. "t'Ditsy." He heard her name echo off the walls. The murmur of voices died down just as fast. The reverberations were even worse. tr'Pexil did the best he could to keep his composure. A hard swallow followed the silence. She sat at her station, her back a rigid line as if she expected a dagger to be thrust between her shoulder blades at any moment. Tapping her console a little too hard, she managed to triple the command she was giving, causing the system to lock down as it waited for confirmation of what she wanted. He followed her slowly to her console, even if it was a side show for the others on duty. "Au want to press and hold that key to stop aur command and unlock it." Lerak's voice was smooth. At least in his own head. He touched her shoulder briefly with his right hand. He shouted to himself to stop, but his hand did not hear him. She flinched away. "I know what I'm doing," she said between clenched teeth. Pressing the right sequence, she unlocked the system and continued, though she was still pressing too hard. She locked herself out twice more before reaching the binary command she wanted. He reached for something in a pocket of his uniform, an ISD. It was filled with text he wrote earlier, something formal. He pulled it out and held in in the same hand he hit t'Ditsy earlier that day. "Would au accompany me to the Daise'Engineer's office?" He could only imagine what went through her head. Her hand clenched and she straightened her shoulders. "Do I have a choice?" Rising from her seat, she logged off and stalked toward his office. He made no head shake or nod, simply gesturing for her to take the lead. Did not matter, her stalking spoke volumes. She entered, he followed and took a seat at the desk. Everything felt awkward. He stomach twisted in so many knots. Waiting for his system to calm down would take hours. "Here, please read this," He handed her the small ISD. His outstretched hand shook slightly. She snatched it from his grip, expecting some sort of punishment or ridiculous insult to put in her official file. Her jaw clenched as she read it through. "It's a formal complaint to be filed with N'Dak, with testimony from t'Shia and t'Aehjae regarding my actions earlier. It recommends a formal reprimand in my permanent record and suggest further investigation." As she read it appeared fairly damning. Lerak was not nice to himself in the slightest. "Au are filing a reprimand against aurself?" She glanced up at him, incredulous. "Are au really that stupid?" His anger rose, then a deep breath calmed him. "It is deserved. Aur actions did not merit such a harsh reprisal. Frankly au deserved better from aur Daise and a," somewhat muffled, "daehlen." Her cheeks flushed green. "Au struck me," she said flatly. "I was only trying to help and then all that happened and au struck me. I did na think that au could be so... cruel." She scowled. "There was once another Daise that unfeeling." "Laehval. I know and I can na escape the comparison now." Lerak looked down at the desk, averting his eyes. "Many years ago I, when I first met her I thought: I'm better than that. But the truth is I'm na better. She would just go about her business like nothing happened. I, given how I manage my department, can't do such a thing. However I have na idea how to fix it, or if it's even possible." She touched her cheek. "Au could start with an apology, instead of playing the martyr and throwing aurself in the line of fire. What happened down there was not aur fault. If anything, it was mine. I should have never gone down there." He nodded slowly. "Au are right, au should na have been down there. This was my punishment and mine alone. I do regret striking au and offer an apology if it has any meaning coming from me. A backhand is unnecessary and damages our working relationship. While some rule through fear, I am na that kind of leader. I let my private demons fester. Had I not tripped on t'Shia's boot this whole event would have happened quite differently. Au were simply being recklessly thoughtful." He placed his hands in front of him on the table nervously, rubbing them together. Her lips pressed together in a thin line as she studied him. Finally she spoke, “Apology accepted. Let this be the end of it. All of it. Delete aur report and forget about it. They humiliated au in security! Do na give them the satisfaction of seeing au reprimanded as well. tr’N’Dak gave us all punishment and is aware of the situation. If he wishes to demote au or file something in your official record, he can do that, but do na be so stupid as to request it aurself. Au make our department look bad... worse.” The ISD with the self-inflicting report lay on the Daise Engineer’s desk. Lerak grabbed it and with a few swipes the document disappeared into the void. The universe got a bit lighter for him. “Good. We can move on. However I have na doubt t’Shia or t’Aehjae will throw this issue of the prisoner breakout in our faces again. I had a repport with both of them, or so I thought.” He shook his head at the admission to himself of the rift between Dheno and Engineering over this incident. “Do yourself a favor t’Ditsy, watch aus back and report anything au see. Dismissed.”