AT/D04 - Officer's Lounge

[Tyra Crawford]

==

[Hallowette Maxas-Darl]

=Recall Timeline==

The lounge was more quiet than it ever was while underway. That was to be expected, Hallowette reckoned, given the crew was far from fully accounted for, and it would take a few more days until they would be.
The lanky hybrid waved a small hello to one of the bartenders as she entered, scanning the room for any familiar faces, before moving on to a table bordering the large canvas window that looked out on the spacedock and Earth just beyond it. It was always amazing to her just how blue the world was. Even Trill and Bajor, with their purple and emerald oceans, felt different somehow. No less beautiful, perhaps, but Earth possessed a particular brilliance that always managed to catch her attention. She wondered if humanity ever truly noticed it anymore, or if familiarity had rendered such beauty invisible, as it often seemed to do.

She removed a PADD from the thigh pocket on her uniform and placed it on the table. She scrolled through the various pages of data and settled on a book by a Romulan monk who had recently become an ambassador to Vulcan. She found the discourse of evolved diplomacy fascinating, especially as to how it related to two species that originated from the same evolved source, yet diverged so drastically.

After some time the young auburn haired tactical officer grew aware of the gnawing sensation that sat just under the pouch on her abdomen, and she decided to settle the sensation with a quick bite. During her time on leave, she'd spent a fair amount of time in the United Kingdom, and while there she had discovered a simple, yet delicious human dish called Welsh Rarebit. She strode to the replicators, punched in a few keys and then waited patiently as the matter condensers assembled a plate of the crisp, gooey and melty dish. Returning to her seat at the window, stopping only to get a glass of fresh beneer juice from the bar, she sat and began to eat as she dove back into her book, only looking up occasionally when someone new entered the lounge. 

==TAG ANYONE!==

[Ardanna Svenson]

<< Gym <<

Following her workout and after dropping her gym bag off at her quarters Ardanna decided that some sustenance was required before she reported to Security. Besides the Ensign had worked up quite the appetite and while she could have gone to the Complex early, the lounge appealed to her more and if she was lucky she might even bump into someone she knew, which was always a bonus.

Ardanna had also wisely dressed in her uniform, saving her time in the long run as she made her way to the lounge, with the intention of eating something relatively healthy especially after the indulgences that came with being on leave.

It was time to get back to more than her usual workout routine, and that included her diet with perhaps the exception of her cheat day once a week. For now though her choice was already made as the brunette lower ranked officer entered the lounge, her unique gaze casting a glance around to see if she knew anyone. While she hadn't spent much time with Maxas-Darl, Ardanna figured this would be a good opportunity to rectify that as she stopped by the replicators and ordered a chicken and bacon salad with a side of fresh berries before making one last pit stop to order and receive a glass of strawberry lemonade.

Thanking the bartender, Ardanna then carried her tray over to where Hallowette was sitting and greeted her warmly. “ Hey Hallowette, would it be okay for me to join you?”

== Tag Hally ==

[Hallowette Maxas-Darl]

==Artemis Recall==

“ Hey Hallowette, would it be okay for me to join you?”

The voice was warm, and while not completely familiar, it wasn't unknown to her either. Hally looked up from her PADD to see the athletic form of one of the ship's security Ensign's, a woman who she knew well enough to call her by her first name, but wasn't someone she knew in any intimate fashion.

"Oh, hey Ardanna, of course, have a seat."

She gestured towards an open chair at the table and sat forward as she did so, making sure to slide the PADD away from her as she placed her attention on the newcomer.

"How are you? How was your leave? I've not seen you since the picnic."

[Ardanna Svenson]

If Hallowette didn't want any company, Ardanna would have understood, but thankfully, the pilot acknowledged her request before gesturing to the empty chair opposite her. " Thank you", Ardanna replied as she placed her tray down onto the table, then took the available chair. When asked how she was and how her leave had been, the security officer smiled, deciding it wouldn't hurt to let the other woman know what had happened during her leave, and how Hallowette would be the first person other than her brother and friends to learn about a rather happy development in her personal life.

" I'm really good, and leave was better than I thought it would be", she began. " After I saw you at the BBQ, I spent some time with my brother and friends from the Academy which was awesome as I haven't seen them for ages, and oh yes me and Ollie are an official couple now".

Grinning slightly, Ardanna paused to take a sip of her drink, giving Hallowette the time to digest that particular piece of news. The brunette didn't expect anyone to be surprised considering how close she was with Ollie, but leave had given them the chance to develop their relationship further, and while she wasn't usually the type to get to this stage with someone, the handsome Aussie had changed her mind and she could confidently call him her boyfriend.

" How about you, how have you been since I last saw you?"

== Tag Hally ==

[Eun Ju Han]

Having docked on Earth was a true treat for Eun Ju. Being able to finally go back and visit her brother in Korea had been an unexpected but much-needed experience. There was something special about being home for a little while. The smell of Korean street food, the taste of fresh, unreplicated kimchi, drinking her brother under the table with soju the first night as she caught him up on all her exploits from the Artemis since she had left. She had gone to visit her Halmoni's grave as well, leaving flowers and her favorite food as an offering to her in the afterlife. It had been a trip that had grounded her again. She had fallen for someone, lost him, and then had a hard time feeling as though she wasn't exactly sure what to do with herself after that. She had heard nothing from him, and now she had put that behind her. She had spent longer without him than with, it just took her time to kind of recenter and ground herself.

Hopefully, the stigma of being the one who was dating the first officer, who got arrested, and was carted off the ship would have also died down some.

Eun Ju had come back on board earlier this morning and settled back into her Quarters. She had decided to combat her loneliness at times, to bring a small mini-rabbit with her so she had gotten the little bunny set up with it's own area. She had decided to name the little fluff ball Nari, which was Korean for Lily. With all the travels, Nari had gone right into the little rabbit hut she had set up for it and fallen asleep, which left Ju little to nothing to do and a lot of time on her hands. It felt odd to be back, but right somehow, she had brought a ton of Korean snacks back with her too so she could have a taste of home from time to time, since she did not know when she would have a chance to return to Earth again.

Ju stepped into the officer's lounge wearing her uniform because it was just easier than going with her casual clothes on board at this time. There were two females already having a conversation to the side, but she didn't know either of them; she didn't think. Being an Engineer, she was often busy and in the depths of the ship, fighting mechanical demons rather than up on the social floors making friends. Not that she didn't have any, her boss was more-or-less a friend, perhaps closer to an acquaintance, but they worked together well enough. She also had made other friends here, even Calleja, with her epic temper.

The Korean stepped up to the bar and ordered herself a bottle of soju and a small glass. She might as well relax a little bit before heading back to her quarters. The decision now came to, did she ask to join the two women who seemed to know each other, or did she stay by herself and wait to be invited? I don't even know them. What if I make a fool of myself. I should make more friends though. They can keep me busy off hours. We could do fun things together. Maybe they like watching K-dramas, or listening to Kpop. Maybe they want to work out at the gym or something. It could be good to branch out again.

Her thoughts were interupted as the bartender put a bottle of soju and a small glass in front of her. "Do it, go say hi," the bartender said, nodding her head to the other two women. Ju blushed, feeling as though he had been seen, but she gave a bit of a nod and turned. Taking a deep breath, Ju crossed from the bar to the other two women at the table.

"Do you mind if I join you? I'm Eun Ju, by the way, or Ju for short," she said, waiting for the two to answer nervously.

==Tag Hallowette and Ardanna==

[Hallowette Maxas-Darl]

The smile that crossed Hallowette's face was immediate. "So you two finally made it official, huh?" punctuating the question with a soft laugh. "Well, congratulations, Ardanna. That's such happy news."

The happiness in the young security officers expression was difficult to miss, and Hally found herself genuinely pleased for her. Ardanna and Ollie had been dancing around becoming official for a while, and most everyone who knew the two of them, even just as acquaintances could see how much they fancied one another. Ollie had a reputation for being an unabashed flirt, but once he had settled his affections on Ardanna, his target lock had become more or less solid on her alone.

Before she could ask anything further, another voice joined them.

"Do you mind if I join you? I'm Eun Ju, by the way, or Ju for short."

Hallowette looked up and offered a welcoming smile. "Not at all. Please." She gestured toward an empty chair. "I'm Hallowette. Hally, uhm, usually." As Ju settled in, Hally moved her PADD aside and made a little more room at the table. "Perfect timing, actually. Ardanna was just sharing some good news." The Trill-Bajoran hybrid glanced toward the security officer with an amused expression. "I'll let her tell you about it herself."

Once everyone had settled, Ardanna's earlier question returned to her. How had her leave been?

For a moment she found herself looking back out toward Earth hanging beyond the spacedock. "It was nice," she said softly. "Maybe little quieter than I expected." A faint smile touched her lips. "My family is spread across several worlds these days, so I wasn't really able to visit anyone." Her delicate spot lined hands tapped thoughtfully on the table, "My Dad and his family are still on Cardassia, and with the diplomatic challenges between them and the Federation heating up, my request to visit was denied."

She missed her Dad, little sister and step mom. Knowing the state of affairs were deteriorating, she worried greatly for them, but trusted that her father's status as an official Bajoran envoy would likely protect them more than any starship could. Still, it had been well over a year since she had seem them in person, and she yearned to just be among them for a little bit. "So I mostly stayed on Earth."

Her eyes brightened slightly. "I think I spent about half my leave wandering around places on Earth I'd not gotten a chance to see while at the Academy. Johannesburg. Seattle. Kyoto. Little villages and museums and old ruins." She laughed. "I probably looked completely ridiculous. Everywhere I went there were humans walking past things that were hundreds or thousands of years old without a second glance, while I was standing there staring at everything." It was one of the things she loved most about Earth. The weight of history seemed to exist alongside everyday life in a way few worlds managed. Preserved, cherished, but not buried under the pretense of the sacred like on Bajor or the mythological like on a planet like Qo'nos - just history for history sake.

"I also volunteered at the Academy." That smile lingered. "My old instructor was looking for pilots willing to spend some time mentoring cadets." Her shoulders lifted slightly. "I told myself it was because I wanted to help." The grin that followed suggested there was more to it than that. "But honestly? I think I just needed something meaningful to do." There had been days when she felt the absence of family more keenly than others. Teaching had helped with that. "The cadets were wonderful. Exhausting sometimes, but wonderful." She chuckled. "They reminded me that every officer starts somewhere. Every confident pilot you meet was once a nervous student trying not to embarrass themselves in a simulator."

Looking between Ardanna and Ju, her expression softened. "And it was nice feeling useful. Nice being part of something, even while everyone else was off living their lives." Realizing she had perhaps become a little more reflective than intended, she reached for her beneer juice and smiled, turning towards the pretty young engineer, "But enough about me. What about you, Ju? Did you get to spend much time on your homeworld?"

[Ardanna Svenson]

" We did finally", Ardanna agreed, knowing it had taken them both some time to finally realise the inevitable and actually admit it properly to one another. The security officer also understood that it might not come as a surprise to anyone; she couldn't help but smile and let Hally's reaction sink in, because the pilot was right, and Ardanna did feel incredibly happy. " Thank you; the reactions so far have been awesome", she added before they were joined by a woman, who introduced herself as Ju. The name seemed familiar to Ardanna, but that was as far as it went, as Hally gestured to an empty chair, calling Ju's arrival perfect timing, thanks to the news that had just been shared and making the introductions.

" The more the merrier, and Hally's right I was; I've just made my relationship with Ollie Pearson official", Ardanna began, unable to wipe the smile off her face before adding. " Pleased to meet you, Ju".

She might not know Ju yet, but at least this way she was getting ahead of the ship's gossip chain, and as much as she enjoyed scuttlebutt, it was better to have the proper facts rather than assumptions. Hally then returned the conversation to the question Ardanna had asked her after she'd shared her own story about shore leave. Listening with rapt attention as she explained what she had gotten up to, while understanding how she must feel at being unable to see her family. Growing up after losing her parents had been extremely hard on the young Ensign, yet Ardanna was thankful that she still had her brother and surrogate father. Without them and their guidance, she dreaded to think where she might have ended up, and at the same time she was grateful to be where she was now.

It sounded as though Hally had made up for not visiting Cardassia. Not blaming the redhead for taking the opportunity to visit the places she never got to see whilst at the Academy before she revealed she had also volunteered and helped out her old Instructor, which drew a smile from Ardanna.  Wanting something meaningful to do, spoke to Ardanna. At the same time, she might not necessarily volunteer, as Hally had done; she thought it was commendable, especially as she spoke about how it had reminded her that everyone had started somewhere, as well as what else she had gotten out of the experience.

" It sounds as though you had a rewarding leave, and I think it's great that you gave something back by volunteering at the Academy".

Ardanna then turned her attention to Ju, with Hally asking the engineer how her leave had gone.


== Tag Hally & Ju ==

[Eun Ju Han]

It seemed that Ardanna had some sort of interesting development in her world, and Ju felt as though she had come at just the right moment. Already, they had made Ju feel welcome, what could have turned into a very awkward situation had turned out to be something really welcoming and warm. Ju was glad she had decided to take the chance to come over here and introduce herself. Apparently, her and someone named Ollie had just made their relationship official. Ju couldn’t help but smile, she understood how that could be good news and how amazing it would be to come back from down time having taken a large step in a relationship.

“That’s wonderful,” Ju said with a bright smile, she had no idea who Ollie was, but if Ardanna was happy with him then she could be nothing but supportive. It wasn’t like Ju could offer any sort of advice or anything to the woman. Ju had been in a few relationships throughout her life but her last one had ended abruptly and she hadn’t heard anything from Damien since he had been carted away publicly.

Hally mentioned going around the globe during her visit and had done some volunteering at the Academy with young pilots who needed some extra help getting themselves ready for all the training and exams that would be coming their way.

“That sounds amazing, I have never really thought about flying, I’m not sure I am brave enough to fly like you guys can. All the maneuvers, the stress, the tight spaces, it seems like a lot. I just keep things running,” Ju laughed taking a sip of her soju.

They looked over at Ju asking her what she had done while she was on leave. “Oh! Yeah,” Ju laughed, “I actually went home to Korea.” Ju smiled, there was a love for her home country sparkling from her eyes as she mentioned it. “I hadn’t seen my brother since I left for the Academy so it was a perfect opportunity. I ate waaaay too much Korean food, hung out with my niece and my nephew, remembered what it was like to just be a Korean person for a little while.”

Ju took another sip of her drink, “It was much needed. Honestly, things have been rough since I came aboard the Artemis, and so I was glad to kind of take a break and recenter myself. I feel a lot more refreshed coming back with recall than I did last time. I think I’m feeling much more myself again,” she admitted to the ladies. Way to overshare, Ju, you’re going to run them off already. The half-Betazed was always putting her foot in her mouth.

“Do you have someone special Hally? Now that Ollie has snagged Ardanna? Tell me about Ollie, I don’t think I’ve met him yet,” Ju said turning the conversation back over to the two ladies nice enough to welcome her to the group.

==Tag Ardanna and Hally==

[Hallowette Maxas-Darl]

Hallowette listened attentively as Ju spoke, smiling at the obvious affection she held for her family and home.

"Korea sounds wonderful." The mention of nieces and nephews drew an immediate flicker of recognition from her. Family had a way of grounding a person, reminding them who they were when life became challenging or complicated. "I'm really glad you got that time with them, Ju." she said warmly. "And I'm glad you're feeling more like yourself again." she added, again a moment of the familiarity passing between them. Hally had thought Starfleet would be the answer to all of her problems - that becoming an officer and following her dreams would fulfill all of the yearning for purpose she had searched for, even as a child.

The reality had been somewhat less concrete than she had imagined.

In any case, she didn't press for details. Whatever had happened before shore leave was Ju's story to tell or not tell. Still, there was something reassuring about hearing someone say they had found their footing again. When Ju's attention shifted back toward her, asking if she had someone special, a faint blush immediately appeared across Hally's cheeks.

"Oh." A soft laugh escaped her as her fair skin flushed red, "Straight to the difficult questions, I see." She took a sip of her beneer juice, buying herself a moment to think. "Uhm, No. Nobody special at the moment." There was no disappointment in the answer, only the slightest trace of wistfulness. "I've dated before. A few serious relationships here and there. A few not so serious. I was seeing someone at the Academy when we graduated - we tried for a bit, but ultimately we decided it would be too difficult to maintain long distance." She looked up, her teal eyes reflecting the soft light of the lounge as her smile turned slightly self-deprecating. . "It turns out that being stationed on opposite sides of the quadrant for months at a time can complicate things."

The pilot laughed softly. "She is special...and she'll always be special to me - but we both decided that we had fought too hard for a life in Starfleet to force something that might jeopardize our dreams." She smiled quietly, sweetly, and nodded, "So no. No mysterious sweetheart waiting for me somewhere."

Then she glanced toward Ardanna, her smile turning more warm - less heavy,  "As for Ollie, I think that's a question better directed at the woman who just made things official." She bit her lip mischievously, "Ollie is quite the personality from the little I know him, so I'll let the expert regale us a bit more on him."

==Tag Ju and Ardanna==

[Ardanna Svenson]

The smile never faded from Ardanna's lips, not once as Ju reacted to her news, before the engineer commented on Hally flying at the Academy during her leave, and how she had never thought about doing it and why. Ardanna had to admit that she was on the fence when it came to flying, but at the same time, she would have loved to tinker with a shuttle's systems thanks to her Freighter background and how she'd often help Franco and his assistant, Maren, whenever she got the chance. It was the reason why she chose system maintenance as a minor at the Academy, and any excuse to tinker was never missed.

Ardanna then listened as Ju told them about her leave, where she had spent it and how she had gotten the chance to catch up with family, something the brunette security officer understood, and how nice it was to just be a regular person away from the ship. There was also a moment of familiarity between Hally and Ju after the other woman had mentioned why her leave had been needed and that she was feeling more like herself again. Oversharing or not, at least she had been comfortable doing that, since those who served together were more like a family than anyone ever realised. 

" I'm glad the break did you some good too," Ardanna added sincerely, before Ju asked Hally if she had anyone special in her life, and it seemed as though she was the only one currently loved up. These things happened, and considering Ardanna hadn't been in many relationships at all, in fact the one with Ollie was only her second one, she was very much loved up, which in itself was an odd yet wonderful feeling. Although the way Hally's relationship had ended wasn't too dissimilar to the one she had with Johan, and while it hadn't worked out for the pilot, she was sure that love would find her when she least expected it.

" I never thought I would find love, and if it's like mine, then it'll happen when you least expect it", she said softly before the conversation turned back to Ollie, with Ju wanting to hear all about him, and the look that she got from Hally, well, the pilot wasn't that off the mark with her observation of him. 

" He is quite the personality, mischievous and always knows how to make me laugh", Ardanna began as she thought of the handsome Australian who had managed to capture her heart. " He's also handsome and charming; the thing is we started as friends, always laughing, joking or teasing one another, not really thinking we were flirting, then something seemed to shift after the last mission to the point where we finally realised we wanted to be more than friends, and so we decided to make it official at the end of leave".

== Tag Ju & Hally ==

[Eun Ju Han]

Ju was glad she had been able to spend time with her family. Her parents had abandoned her and her brothers when she was just a baby, one at a time, they had been left behind with their Halmoni, or grandmother. She had done everything she could to raise her grandchildren as her own and hopefully better than she had raised her son. Ju had spent years, when she was little, asking where her mother and father were. But her brothers, had long since given up hope on reuniting and it wasn’t long before Ju followed suit. There were a few times in her life she remembered them stopping by for a visit in between long space trips to far off planets but Ju could not remember much.

“It’s always my favorite place to be, and seeing my brother turn into a father in real time is a pretty cool thing. He was always good at taking care of me and our middle brother growing up. But, it’s different to see him as a dad. He’s doing well, though, which is nice.”

Ju didn’t know when they would be back to Earth-side so it was important that she had taken the time to visit her family while she could. When Hally seemed thrown off by her question of whether she had someone special or not, Ju wasn’t sure if she should feel bad or not. But, Hally recovered quickly and explained there had once been someone but there wasn’t at the time and she wasn’t feeling any pressure to change that at the moment.

“I think all relationships are special. I heard once, that people are sometimes briefly spent in your life, stay for a season, or stay forever. Those that stay for a season are placed in your life by fate to teach you something you needed to learn about yourself,” Ju said with a smile pouring herself another glass of soju and giving it a little sip. “I understand when you think you have something special or something that is going to stand the test of time and distance but it doesn’t work out,” Ju admitted with a gentle shrug of her shoulders. She hadn’t given up all hope on Damien, however, with no contact at all and the months had gone by she wasn’t sure what to think any longer. No verdict had been issued, and Ju, felt as though while she hadn’t moved on she also hadn’t stayed waiting either.

Ardanna gushed about her friends turned lovers tale and Ju couldn’t help but smile. Ardann’s excitement was contagious and the young half-Betazoid could actually feel the buzz of it in the air around them. Or maybe it’s the booze? “I’ve heard great relationships can start that way, I hope that it works out for you and Ollie! It sounds like you are off to a great start.”

“Where are you ladies both from originally? What made you choose Starfleet as your future?”

==Tag Ardanna and Hally==

[Hallowette Maxas-Darl]

Hallowette's smile lingered as Ardanna spoke about Ollie. There was something reassuring about seeing another person so thoroughly happy. The details of the story were unique to them, but the idea of it felt familiar enough. Friendships becoming something more often seemed obvious in hindsight. Like constellations. Once somebody drew the lines between the stars it became difficult to imagine not seeing the pattern.

Ju's observation about people entering lives for a season rather than forever drew a thoughtful tilt of Hally's head. "There's, uhm, actually a word for that in Aldebaran. Veshuri." The unfamiliar word rolled easily from her tongue, carrying a faint musical quality that Federation Standard never quite managed to replicate. "Or at least that's the closest transliteration." A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "It's one of those words that can take an entire paragraph to translate properly." She glanced between the two of them, "Some words just aren't meant to be translated - just...felt."

Her fingers curled around her glass. "The simplest version is someone who leaves your life but leaves it better for just having been there." The pilot shrugged lightly, her words trailing off slightly as she considered exactly what the word meant. "The...actual meaning is much prettier than that."

Languages had always fascinated her for reasons she had never fully managed to explain. Words revealed things about a people. What they feared. What they celebrated. What they considered important enough to give a name to. Every culture left little fingerprints behind in its language if someone cared enough to look for them.

When Ju asked where they were from and what had brought them to Starfleet, Hally laughed softly. "Well..." Her teal eyes drifted briefly toward Earth hanging beyond the spacedock window. "Uhm, Trill, mostly." The answer came easily, but wore its conditions like clothing. "At least that's what I usually tell people."

It wasn't wrong, just sort of incomplete. Hallowette considered for a moment how to really answer the question. Her life had been much more complex than just a simple planet or ship. She seemed to have been born into a complex situation when it came to her family. "My grandparents raised me there when I was little - both of my parents were absent, my Mother was an officer in Starfleet Intelligence with a brilliant career to cultivate, and my Father a member of the Bajoran Resistance."

Her thoughts lingered on the planet of her childhood. Rolling hills. Forest trails. Summer afternoons spent wandering farther than she was ever supposed to. So many sunsets where she Returned home covered in dirt and grass stains while pretending she hadn't been gone for hours. Her Grandmother had always seemed disappointed, but only rarely did she ever say so. She seemed to know down deep that her accomplished daughters little girl was born to explore - to wander.

A fond smile found its way onto her face. "Trill...is beautiful." She looked up at the pair, "Have you ever been?" She asked the table softly

Then she paused, a quiet unsaid moment of emotion crossing her freckled features,  "Though if I'm being completely honest, the place that feels most like home wasn't really Trill."

The thought drew another musical laugh, the sound of her accent coming through as she worked less hard to hide it under the Federation standard she was speaking, "You both should know that I am a chronic oversharer." The warning came with an amused shake of her head. "My father joined Starfleet not long after I was born, and eventually served aboard an old Akira-class Peregrine carrier called the Ark Royal when I was growing up. I moved aboard to live with him when I was ten."

Just saying the name brought memories with it. The low vibration of engines through deck plating. The smell of machinery and recycled air. The hum of the docking bay and the laughter of the flight crews as they went about their duties. Endless corridors that seemed impossibly vast to a kid her age.

A wryness filled the space of the smile on her face, "To make a long story short, I was the Chief of Security's kid and the pilots on the ship were a lot more patient with me than they had to be." There was enough affection in her voice to suggest she considered that one of the better things that had ever happened to her. For a moment she found herself watching a shuttle glide across the spacedock beyond the window. "I think that's probably where Starfleet started for me. Those officers more or less adopted me. Taught me to love to fly. To find freedom in going beyond whatever horizon loomed before you."

For a moment she considered her words. It was never quite just about Starfleet, at least not as an institution. It was the feeling. The wonder of it. 

She took a sip of her beneer juice before continuing. "My father eventually transferred into diplomacy and we moved to Cardassia. I ended up joining the Youth Ambassador Program a few years later." Her expression brightened slightly at the memory. "That was probably the first time I realized how enormous the galaxy actually is."

A soft laugh escaped her. "And how strange." New worlds. New languages. New customs. Endless conversations with people whose lives looked nothing like her own. She considered how much she'd already shared with these new friends, and how little she wanted to continue talking about herself. The fact she came incredibly close to becoming a diplomat. Her first solo flight on a Bajoran Lightship. The trouble with her mother interfering at the Academy. 

Realizing she had somehow managed to wander through half her life story while answering a relatively straightforward question, Hally covered part of her face with one hand and laughed. "I'm sorry. That was probably a much longer answer than you were expecting. Long story short, I chose Starfleet because the time I felt most at home was when I lived was on a Starship."

Lowering her hand, she glanced toward Ardanna. "What about you Ardanna? How does someone decide to go into Starfleet Security?"