Starbase 626

Even though the sunlight was artificial, Ren always found it refreshing to walk through the starbase's park level. Even though the rest of the station was just as full of people, the park always felt more alive. As the doors slid closed behind him and grey metal made way for green grass, he took in a deep breath, smelling the dirt and forgetting for the moment that it had all been replicated. At least most of the foliage had grown here naturally. This was always his favorite part of the walk from his quarters to the Security office. Of course his Vulcan features still made him seem somewhat stern and indifferent, but the faintest traces of a smile pull at the corners of his mouth.

Belladonna sat perched in a tree in the park, eating some food. Or rather, to her mind she sat in a fake pet tree in a fake park eating fake food, but you have to adapt in space. None of this felt natural to her, but it was a lot more familiar than metal and unfamiliar artificial materials.
Finishing her food, she looked down to see Ren walking by. Her mind raced as she looked at him from behind. Security, some sort of command person, ranks still confused her admittedly. Looked Vulcan-ish... hard to tell aside from the ears at this angle.
Regardless, she knew two things, he was Starfleet, and if he casually strolled through the park, he was probably from the station. If she hurried, she could follow him through the crowds at least partway to where she was headed.
Belladonna scampered from tree to tree, then dropped down nearly silently to the grass beneath, a few feet behind Ren. Now to just casually follow him.

Ren's brow wrinkles Something is amiss; something unexpected. He knows it, but he cannot put words to it. Had he heard something strange? He doesn't think so, but he just has the strange, completely illogical sensation of being followed. He doesn't like it. Years of training as a security officer has him on alert, even though he cannot quite explain why. Well, that's it. The tall officer pivots about sharply and suddenly, eyes narrowed. No one there?

Then he looks down, and what he sees causes one of his sharply-angled brows to rise. Fascinating? No, just unfamiliar.

"Can I help you...ensign?" Ren queries bluntly, searching out quickly the other's rank insignia.

Belladonna instinctively froze on being spotted, as if not moving would make her invisible again. After a second she remembered that Starfleet officers don't eat people and she relaxed then snapped to attention. These space customs were weird to say the least.

"Good day, sir. I was having a meal in the park here and realized you were likely headed the same general direction, at least for a bit. I admit that I tend to have a bit of trouble navigating dense crowds due to my stature, and have grown accustomed to following others through them as they make a path." She took a deep breath. "People seem to make way for taller nafi and for those in command ranks, so by being behind tall or higher ranking nafi, I can get where I am going and not cause a ruckus by taking alternate routes of travel."
She pulls her tail closer but not tight to her body, and her double-pointed ears droop a little. "I hope I did not offend, sir. I am still acclimating to space customs."

Ren keeps his arms down at his sides, chest out in the intimidating posture of an officer addressing a lower rank. He reminds himself to review the crew rosters when he gets to his office, since he can't immediately recall this ensign's name. Or species. It's not often he sees a Starfleet officer shorter than four feet tall, though of course the Federation isn't the sort to discriminate based on height. He'd even heard of a Ferengi making it through the Academy. Still, even a Ferengi would look down on this ensign.

The lieutenant commander looks back at the tree he'd recently passed. Probably where she had been hiding, and why he hadn't spotted her. His brow wrinkles slightly, not at first understanding the word nafi. Context makes it clear, however, and he nods, receiving the explanation. "Very well," he says, a hint of a smile creeping onto his face. A Vulcan, smiling? Well, perhaps he isn't all Vulcan, and indeed the ridges on his nose might give some clue to his mixed heritage. "Just...announce yourself next time, Ensign...your name is?"

Belladonna pulls out a small notepad of what seems to be actual paper bound in leather. She carefully writes in it, "Announce self before following higher-ranking security officers," making no attempt to hide what she has written.

"Ah, my name," she starts to say her native name, then pauses, and says, "My real name is too long for Starfleet documents, and is difficult for many species to pronounce. It includes the name of a flower from my world that is poisonous to humans but not to Yawu, we use it medicinally. Well, I use 'Belladonna' as a name here in Starfleet contexts, as Atropa belladonna, or 'Deadly Nightshade' is a plant with similar associations from Earth and most humans understand it. Most non-humans don't, but 'Belladonna' is at least recognized by the translator devices." As she rambled about plants, her tail and ears perked up and her already large pupils dilated slightly more.
She takes a deep breath, "So, in short, I am Ensign Belladonna, xenobotanist. I work here at the starbase."

In space, no one can hear you scream... unless you're on a space station, or see you panting heavily. For Amicitia's case, the captain had been taking a break from her desk work and was dressed in sports attire as she spent her free time jogging around the park.

As she rounded the corner, she saw her favourite Security officer talking to... perhaps a child? Although she knew better than to squeal at how adorable Belladonna was. Much as she wanted to do so. Such a fluffy tail! The captain slowed her jogging pace to a walk as she made her way over to the duo... eyes mostly on the Ensign.

She caught the shorter one's introduction. The station's xenobiologist, how interesting. She never found plants THAT interesting enough to study. Machinery had been her background, how the whirrs and the chirrs of each component made her shiver in delight as contraptions moved. Now that was interesting itself.

"Commander," she greeted Subak with a smile before turning to the cute one! "Ensign."

Ren stands listening to the ensign's exhaustive answer to what he had intended to be a simple question. Why do people feel the need to complicate things? His Vulcan side manages to keep up with all the details, but he wonders if half of them are worth keeping.

"Thank you, Ensign Belladonna. For your reference, I'm Lieutenant Commander Subak Ren, chief of security here. Have you just recently arrived on..."

He notes the Captain's entrance by coming to full attention and saluting. Inwardly, he sighs in relief that she isn't on the pogo stick again. He also won't correct her seeming promotion of him to Commander rank. By now he knows what she means. "Captain," he says politely. "I was just on my way to my office to finish preparing my morning report."

Following Ren's lead, Belladonna comes to attention and salutes, though her form needs refinement.

"A pleasure to meet you, Captain and Lieutenant Commander." She smiled politely at the Captain, trying to remember what her colleagues had told her, Orion, unconventional, hadn't she seen her on a bouncy contraption of some sort. Strange, she really should have met the Captain by now...
"Ah, I have been here for several weeks, but I work odd hours and my colleagues in sciences have kept me very busy since my arrival, and they always seem to have meetings I must attend when I would otherwise meet folks." She pauses, coming to a realization, "Perhaps they are keeping me from something or keeping something from me. I hope it isn't to do with the incident with the faulty intercom on that ship I rode in from my homeworld. I honestly didn't know they weren't sturdy enough to handle a simple ceremonial dagger." She gestures to the simple dagger at her hip with Starfleet insignia and a pommel stone that matched her division color. "It wasn't a Starfleet ship, just a research vessel," she adds hastily, lest they think she is in the habit of damaging Starfleet property.
"I am sorry I did not recognize you, Captain. I still rely much on rank insignia and the like, and without your contraption and uniform you look different then the starbase tour guide described."

The woman was an active person and constantly on the move! Starfleet had provided her with sufficient opportunity to progress... amidst her quirks. The Orion leaned back a little raising an eyebrow at Subak's report.

"I see... I assume there is nothing too pressing if so, I'm certain the report can be delayed a little bit for you to enjoy some conversation with our ensign," Ami said in case her security officer felt the need to do work in her presence. Authority gave that kind of feeling after all, where one needed to look like they were working.

As Belladonna spoke, she nodded her head, raising her remaining eyebrow at the woman's words on the ceremonial dagger.

"I see... I assume then that you have made the appropriate amendments to the captain of the research vessel before boarding the station?" she asked as she placed her hand on her hips, staring at the shorter ensign expectantly.

A mental note was made to look into the ensign's history. Perhaps she was a troublemaker. Amicitia was familiar with those... being one herself at times. A side glance was given to her security officer, with a questioning look. Hopefully the Vuljoran had reviewed the ensign's files before she boarded and done the necessary clearance. It was his job to keep the station safe after all!

"Of course, captain. Tis a breach of the sacred laws of hospitality to do otherwise. But the intercom did start the dispute, and deserved its fate. I filed proper requests for several days for the incessant high-frequency screeching to be repaired and every time they told me, 'There is nothing wrong with the intercom, we checked it out and it isn't making any sounds.' I brought up the potential for hearing differences, which they didn't seem to find relevant, and even the most proper and respectful of people can only tolerate a constant high-pitched screetch for so long before they attempt 'percussive maintenance,' as their engineer called it."

Ren makes a mental note to re-check Ensign Belladonna's Starfleet record. Maybe the summary he'd been given had glossed over a few items. "Intercoms never start debates," he says, "only the people on the other end of them. But that's beside the point."

Wait a minute, what was the point? The captain wants him to spend time with the xenobotanist? Whatever would they discuss? "I suppose I could part the way for Ensign Belladonna, to wherever she needs to go," he says, "and along the way perhaps familiarize her with more points of station protocol." Such as don't try to sneak around behind people.

Amicitia was familiar with percussive maintenance. The woman had risen from the ranks beginning with as an engineer before hopping onto the command track. She raised an eyebrow slightly.

"It would have been easier to just unscrew the intercom and do a couple of shortening of wires, a bit of modification... or just to shut it up... I'll send over a broken intercom for you to mess around with to learn about them," Ami said as she rubbed her chin a little.

"That might be suitable Mister Subak. Familiarity with protocol is a must." So that one can break them but she wasn't going to tell that to the ensign.

"Although perhaps one of your other officers could handle that as you're usually quite busy... other than that Ensign, I think you should take a couple of lessons in managing equipment, just the basic of course. It would be useful to you if you lack the skills."

"I did not have access to such tools as screwdrivers, Captain. Such lessons would intrigue me, though I do have concerns about identifying which wire is which that I would have to address before working with actually operable devices, lest I accidentally electrocute my instructor. This was part of why I received more software than hardware training on my homeworld. Software at least has adaptive displays." Her tail twitched slowly and she shifted uncomfortably as she spoken.

((OOC: Sorry for taking so long, I was on a trip then fostering an unweaned kitten))

Subak only nods, when the Captain discusses the necessity of protocol. A bit strange, coming from one who regularly ignores safety regulations, but he isn't going to call out the Captain in front of an ensign.

"I can call up some of the necessary manuals from my desk terminal," he says, "and see that the ensign is provided such tools as she may need. As for my security staff, three are patrolling the cargo decks, two the Promenade, five the living quarters, and one is watching the Security office. The rest are preparing for a combat drill session to begin in an hour." All of this is said in utter matter-of-factness, as though he were just describing the weather planetside.

"With your permission, Captain, may I proceed?"

Ami ignored safety regulations when it came to pogosticks. Her engineering crew was terrified because she blew up on them if they were idiots and she held an engineering background.

"Very well Mister Subak. Carry on then!" Ami said before returning to her jog without a word more.

If one listened closely, they could hear her humming Ride of the Valkyries while running.