06-05-2024, 06:00 PM
==Same timeframe as Coffee Timeline==
Jaein and his wife walked down the promenade, arm in arm, and he couldn’t have been happier. He hadn’t been on Deep Space Nine in fifteen years, and yet it hadn’t changed a bit. Sure, the shops were different, some of the shops that had been around then had different owners now, and things like that. But the atmosphere of the place hadn’t changed a bit. “It feels like home,” he said to Mary Ellen, and gave her hand a squeeze.
“No,” she said teasingly, her bright eyes shining, “home is where we just came from, down on the farm in Rakantha.”
He chuckled, his own eyes twinkling. “Fair enough,” he said. It was the family homestead, of course, which his son ran now that his father had passed. Jaein was an engineer, and had no interest in farming; neither had his brothers. It was gratifying, then, that his son Polda had decided to take up the family d’jarra and keep the farm, even as his sister Helen had decided to follow his path into Starfleet.
“But you know what I mean,” he said, and she nodded beside him. When Jaein had been a much younger man, he had been initiated into the ranks of the engineers right here on Deep Space Nine, cutting his teeth on so many types of starships, transports, freighters, and shuttles during the Dominion War that he couldn’t even remember all of them. Although at 53, he wasn’t about to admit to forgetting things like that lest someone question his memory as a whole.
He was a tall man, broad of shoulder; likely a legacy from his farmer ancestors, which he’d helped along working as an engineer for most of his life. The bajoran man still had a good bit of muscle across that frame, though age was beginning to take its toll, along with the years of managerial work he’d been doing at the 40 Eridani A shipyards, running one of their primary production lines for the Vesta-class. But his eyes were bright and friendly, and he couldn’t stop smiling as he walked through the crowded avenue. The earring jangled in his ear, just barely heard above the crowd noise even with it being right in his ear, dampened a little by his short, salt-and-pepper (mostly salt these days) hair.
Mary Ellen, by contrast, was slightly built and average height. Her hair was still black as the day they had met when her research group had stopped at the station on their way to Bajor proper, though he knew that it mostly was artificial these days. She was human, having come as part of a Federation biology group meant to help rejuvenate the soil of Bajor after the Occupation had ended, but they had found a spark from that first meeting, which blossomed into love and marriage not long thereafter. Her long blue dress contrasted his deep red shirt, and she couldn’t help but smile either as she looked around. “Yes,” she finally replied after a long, comfortable silence. “Yes I do.”
He guided them into a little cafe, ‘Kikar’s’ the signboard outside read, and they took a table to sit and watch the people go by. “Are you sure you’ll be alright while I’m busy with work?” he asked her as a waitress brought them tea. He could smell other patrons drinking coffee or eating pastries, but he’d always preferred a hot tea.
“Yeah,” she said with a wave of her hand - she had gotten a huli and a glass of iced tea, which was a taste that Jaein had never acquired despite their thirty-plus years together. “I saw several fun shops along the promenade I wanted to visit, and it's always easier to buy things when you’re otherwise occupied.” She smiled over her glass at him, a devilish gleam lighting her eyes.
“Just don’t spend money we don’t have,” he teased her back with a chuckle. “And I expect to see everything you bought when I get back to our quarters tonight.”
“Of course,” she said brightly. “You think everything’s okay? I know he hasn’t gotten back to you about your tour today.”
Jaein waved it off as he set his glass back down. “Nah, it should be fine,” he said. “Ben seemed a little… preoccupied when we talked last week, and honestly had for a while. I think he had some personal life things going on, though I’ve heard the past couple of missions Artemis went on were classified.
“He probably just needs a break and a friend.” Jaein smiled and watched the people going by for a moment. “And besides, I’ve never met an engineer that didn’t love showing off his work. It’ll be fine; he could probably use the distraction a visit would bring.”
Jaein and his wife walked down the promenade, arm in arm, and he couldn’t have been happier. He hadn’t been on Deep Space Nine in fifteen years, and yet it hadn’t changed a bit. Sure, the shops were different, some of the shops that had been around then had different owners now, and things like that. But the atmosphere of the place hadn’t changed a bit. “It feels like home,” he said to Mary Ellen, and gave her hand a squeeze.
“No,” she said teasingly, her bright eyes shining, “home is where we just came from, down on the farm in Rakantha.”
He chuckled, his own eyes twinkling. “Fair enough,” he said. It was the family homestead, of course, which his son ran now that his father had passed. Jaein was an engineer, and had no interest in farming; neither had his brothers. It was gratifying, then, that his son Polda had decided to take up the family d’jarra and keep the farm, even as his sister Helen had decided to follow his path into Starfleet.
“But you know what I mean,” he said, and she nodded beside him. When Jaein had been a much younger man, he had been initiated into the ranks of the engineers right here on Deep Space Nine, cutting his teeth on so many types of starships, transports, freighters, and shuttles during the Dominion War that he couldn’t even remember all of them. Although at 53, he wasn’t about to admit to forgetting things like that lest someone question his memory as a whole.
He was a tall man, broad of shoulder; likely a legacy from his farmer ancestors, which he’d helped along working as an engineer for most of his life. The bajoran man still had a good bit of muscle across that frame, though age was beginning to take its toll, along with the years of managerial work he’d been doing at the 40 Eridani A shipyards, running one of their primary production lines for the Vesta-class. But his eyes were bright and friendly, and he couldn’t stop smiling as he walked through the crowded avenue. The earring jangled in his ear, just barely heard above the crowd noise even with it being right in his ear, dampened a little by his short, salt-and-pepper (mostly salt these days) hair.
Mary Ellen, by contrast, was slightly built and average height. Her hair was still black as the day they had met when her research group had stopped at the station on their way to Bajor proper, though he knew that it mostly was artificial these days. She was human, having come as part of a Federation biology group meant to help rejuvenate the soil of Bajor after the Occupation had ended, but they had found a spark from that first meeting, which blossomed into love and marriage not long thereafter. Her long blue dress contrasted his deep red shirt, and she couldn’t help but smile either as she looked around. “Yes,” she finally replied after a long, comfortable silence. “Yes I do.”
He guided them into a little cafe, ‘Kikar’s’ the signboard outside read, and they took a table to sit and watch the people go by. “Are you sure you’ll be alright while I’m busy with work?” he asked her as a waitress brought them tea. He could smell other patrons drinking coffee or eating pastries, but he’d always preferred a hot tea.
“Yeah,” she said with a wave of her hand - she had gotten a huli and a glass of iced tea, which was a taste that Jaein had never acquired despite their thirty-plus years together. “I saw several fun shops along the promenade I wanted to visit, and it's always easier to buy things when you’re otherwise occupied.” She smiled over her glass at him, a devilish gleam lighting her eyes.
“Just don’t spend money we don’t have,” he teased her back with a chuckle. “And I expect to see everything you bought when I get back to our quarters tonight.”
“Of course,” she said brightly. “You think everything’s okay? I know he hasn’t gotten back to you about your tour today.”
Jaein waved it off as he set his glass back down. “Nah, it should be fine,” he said. “Ben seemed a little… preoccupied when we talked last week, and honestly had for a while. I think he had some personal life things going on, though I’ve heard the past couple of missions Artemis went on were classified.
“He probably just needs a break and a friend.” Jaein smiled and watched the people going by for a moment. “And besides, I’ve never met an engineer that didn’t love showing off his work. It’ll be fine; he could probably use the distraction a visit would bring.”