Getting to Know You. Getting to Know All About You

Posted on Mon Aug 3rd, 2026 @ 7:01am by Ensign T'Shai & Ensign Blaine McCray

2,190 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: ARYL 1X06: For Peaceful Purposes
Location: Corridors
Timeline: Directly Post-Something New, Something Old

Duffel bag on his left shoulder, Blaine looked to T'Shai, his eyes smiling. His heart was hammering in his chest as he thought about how his life had just drastically changed... he thought for the better. Not for the first time, he marveled at how different she was from what he had pictured. Granted, what he had pictured was a nebulous dream that had grown even more wispy over the last sixteen years. He realized that he had much to learn, about being an officer, and a future husband. All that said, his training in what his human grandmother had called 'chivalry' began to assert itself as he looked into her eyes. "Is there anythin' I need to get from the shuttle? Or do you normally travel this light? Are you hungry?"

"I didn't see the need to bring much with me," T'Shai admitted as she shook her head fractionally, "A few items of clothing, some jewelry, several books, mostly what was permitted at the Academy. I do have some items at home on Vulcan that I intend to send for, but was unable to retrieve when I was given my assignment. There was sufficient food for the journey, but I'm sure that when it is time for supper that we can eat together." While her voice was calm and measured, her eyes seemed to glitter at him.

'Those eyes will get me in trouble,' Blaine thought as he saw them sparkle. Her voice, on the other hand, calmed him, and he found himself trying to sus out the dichotomy. He wondered how he could be nervous and relaxed simultaneously as he offered her his free arm before guiding her out of the shuttlebay and into the corridors. "I'll make sure that we eat together tonight, an' after we get you settled, we'll send a message to your parents, letting them know you made it safely an' where to send your things. How are your family? I meant to ask earlier."

T'Shai slipped her arm into his in an intimate gesture to walk next to him, "My parents are satisfactory, they are aware of my impending graduation, although I was reticent to inform them of the subject of my final project. They are suitably pleased with my joining the Vulcan Science Service, but I was unable to inform them that I have been transferred to Starfleet. As a junior science officer, should I graduate successfully, they should still be satisfied. As you know, my father was part of the exploratory team that first found the humans when he was quite young. He always had the opinion that humanity was too volatile to be allowed out on their own, but too innovative to be suppressed. I think he'll be more pleased that I am in Starfleet rather than the Science Service."

"I can commiserate. I know my grandparents are more understandin' of me bein' here. Too human for the Science Service," he said as they made their way to the closest turbolift and he called for their deck. "Your father must be gratified to know that he inspired your work in some way too. I'm sure you used him as a primary source since he was there. I'd bet his insights were amazin'."

"He doesn't know that I used him as a source in my dissertation, I used stories that he told me that could be verified by other sources and reports filed from in the time of discovery to ensure that I only used valid sources." T'Shai glanced down as if she was embarrassed by the fact that she didn't go directly to the source, "While he would have been pleased to have been used, should he have known the subject, however I did not wish to disgrace him should it fail." She looked back up at Blaine, "Disgrace for me is one thing, for my parents, my father? I could not do that. You understand, don't you?"

He sighed as he heard what she was saying. The words made sense to him in away that resonated deeply. He felt it like he felt the movement of the lift under them. "I do understand. We do things to safeguard our family that we wouldn't do for any other reason. I will carry that secret as well," he said, looking into her eyes.

She nodded to him, the forest green of her eyes meeting his and she inclined her head again, "I thank you for your discretion." She stated as they stopped in front of a door and she regarded the door with a brief increase of her heartbeat and some internal trepidation, her arm going stiff in his as another new thing in her life approached at warp speed. "We are here."

Blaine felt her stiffness and the flare of her heartbeat. He felt the trepidation as well. This was new for both of them. He smiled as he watched her for a moment, gently squeezing her arm. "Take the time you need, T'hy'la," he whispered softly.

The door slid open for them and T’Shai hesitated before steeling herself to step into the room, pausing after getting two steps in to let him enter and for the door to close behind them. She’d planned this moment for sixteen years, going from the mind of a seven-year old with thoughts of wonder and romance(and did she get told off for those flights of fancy), through her teenage years and the fear of fulfilling the oath she’d sworn the decade before and even as recently as the journey here, denying the nerves that she’d felt in the shuttlecraft.

Now the moment was here, she had seen her betrothed for the first time in sixteen years, two months, eighteen days and now fourteen and a half hours and she felt… Relief. Relief? That puzzled her as she exhaled with her eyes closing for the duration, breathing in the new air of her new life. Blaine was little more than a stranger after all this time, yet seeing him again had calmed her down from her nervousness and felt nearly like she was coming home after a long day and night of study. Relief from those who were judging her, from those with expectations of her, from her own fear that he would reject her upon arrival. Her hands came up in front of her, clasped together as she stood in the center of the room, still looking inside the closed curtains of her eyelids.

Blaine set her duffel bag down by the door and watched her with caring curiosity. He saw the relief that seemed to fill her as the sigh left her lungs. Even though it had been the better part of two decades since he had seen her, he recognized the sense almost of relaxation that took her, and he gave her time to enjoy it. She was a stranger, but had been part of his mind for a very long time. She had become this figure in the background of his mind, like the great ladies of Earth’s ancient legends.

Once more she exhaled deeply, shoulders relaxing and her hands dropped to her sides, eyes opening to the brand new world in front of her, “Would it be acceptable for me to change out of these robes?” She asked him, turning to face him, “I have done a study of Earth fashions and brought along some items that I thought would be pleasing to you, yet still comfortable to wear.”

Blaine smiled as he watched her relax and reached out to take her hand as he picked up her bag and led her through the bedroom door. “Of course!” he said, a bit nervously, as he placed the bag on the bed for her. “The fresher is there if you need it. Wardrobe is there in the corner. Um, please make yourself at home. I want you to think of this place as much yours as mine. I’ll be right outside in the living area if you need me.”

For several seconds after he left, T’Shai just looked around at the surroundings. These were small for a single person to be living in, still,manageable, but for two? She nearly turned around to ask for her own quarters so as not to encroach upon his space, but stopped when she realized how that could look. He’d think the worst, that she was rejecting HIM, not out of concern for him. No, that would not do. She selected the bottom drawer as her own, taking out her small selection of clothing and placing it in there after withdrawing her choice. She folded the robes as she took them off, setting them aside for cleaning, before stepping in front of the mirror of the fresher to take a look at herself.

Serviceable, but not what he’d truly enjoy, but that would be a few days, perhaps, to find out his likes and desires first prior to truly experimenting on any makeup. She reached up and gathered her hair, quickly gathering it in a loose elastic band at the nape of her neck, careful to still let it flow, then took a long look at the clothes laid out on the bed. The skirt would flow past her knees, more a dress that went to her calf and in the same green as her eyes, the shirt in the style they called ‘polo’, picked mostly because of the creatures called horses, which she’d never encountered yet, but they had featured heavily in his writings when they corresponded as children. She dressed meticulously, tucking the hem of the shirt into the skirt-waist before stepping out into the ‘main’ room again.

Blaine sat on the sofa as he waited for her. He picked up the IDIC medallion Solok had given him as a meditation aid and turned it over in his hands, watching the light dance on the silver and gold. Suddenly he was worried. Are these quarters too small for the two of us? Does she have enough space for her things? His thoughts started to spiral and he hoped he wasn’t broadcasting them to her. Then the door hissed open and T’Shai stepped out. He froze and watched her. She had been a vision of beauty in her robes, but now, in the polo shirt and modest (by human standards) skirt that made her eyes appear more vibrant and a ponytail that flowed down her back. It was now her turn to watch him visually relax. His eyes locked on hers and his breathing calmed and he stood. “T’Shai, you’re beautiful.”

‘His eyes are dilated, hairs standing partially erect, breathing accelerated, heart likely as well.’ Her eyes lowered for a moment, her mouth turning up in a slight smile as they rose again to his, “Thank you, Blaine.” She said softly, stepping towards him again, “I am happy that you approve.” T’Shai hesitated, then exhaled and took a chance. She took another step forward quickly and wrapped her arms around him and brought him into a tight hug, one like she’d given him all that time ago.

T’Shai’s embrace surprised Blaine welcomely, and his arms encircled her as he remembered that deep hug that mirrored this one. For a moment he was back in that time. “What’s not to approve of, T’Shai? You already have a way of calmin’ my nerves, an’ yet surprisin’ me at the same time,” he said, one hand playing with her ponytail as he lost himself in her eyes before giving her a chaste kiss. “Somethin’ tells me our families knew what they were doin’ matchin’ us.”

“More than they speculated at when we were children.” T’Shai said cryptically, not willing to go further than that at this point. No use telling him she was on the borderline of being declared v’tosh ka’tur based purely on what she’d turned in. Two of the five adjudicators of her dissertation hadn’t participated through more than half of her defense, turning their backs upon her despite no betrayal of her inner thoughts on the subject. He didn’t need that burden upon him, it was hers to bear. “If I am to fulfill my duties here and to you, there is none other that I would rather have. I… I missed you.”

It was this moment that Blaine understood the meaning of the words they had spoken at their binding ceremony. ‘Parted from me and never parted. Never and always touching and touched.’ “I missed you too, T’Shai. I didn’t realize just how much until today, now that we are united.”

"May we never have to feel that way again." Once again T'Shai smiled, a genuine smile, "And may we never be parted again."

Blaine saw her smile and found it infectious as he gently led her to the sofa and sat with her. “May we never be parted again,” he echoed, meeting her smile with one of his own.

 

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