ILLUMINARRPG: (5-1800) EO Ensign Bohb & Luma of the Lenai

[Al Muir]

Mission: Death in the Shadows

Day 5

Stardate: 2446.02.04


(USS Illuminar - Holodeck 1 -  EO Ensign Bohb & Luma of the Lenai - 1800)


Bohb entered the empty holodeck holding a burlap sack. He went over to the control panel and began to tap in some commands. He was pleased to see that some of his programming from 20 years ago was still accessible.


“Hello Luma,” he called out.


=^= The Bohb. =^= The Lenai sounded grumpy still.  She was not in a great mood apparently as she was still having minor repairs done and those were irritating.


“I’d like to run an old program tonight. Please pull up Bohb program 2, Magilla Prime.”


Luma thought a moment and then obeyed the command after scanning the program to make sure that it was safe and would not harm any of her small ones. She was not taking anything for granted currently.


The room shimmered and transformed into  a tropical jungle setting. In the middle of the jungle was an opening with a fire pit surrounded by a circle of white stones. There were a series of logs set on end to be used as seats.


“Would you like to join me, Luma?” Bohb asked, sitting on one of the wide logs.



=^= The Bohb would like Luma in her small one form or her normal form? =^=


Bohb blinked. “You have a small one form?  I’ve never seen it. However I will let you decide.  Whichever you are most comfortable with.”


Shimmering before him was an odd creation. It had long purple hair, cat ears, a winding tail, a glaringly fuscia sundress and extremely long purple hair.  Peeking out from her hair was a second set of vaguely vulcan ears. Her skin was lightly tinged pink and her eyes matched the dress. She smelled like the sea.  And Luma looked positively delighted to be interacting in this form.


Bohb smiled, “I must admit, I did not expect this.   Incredible. Nice dress.”


=^= Luma asked Our Sienna what one wears on a date. Our Sienna said a dress was the normal choice for a female small one. Luma is pleased that the Bohb likes it. Luma modeled it on the holo-vids. =^=


Bohb was flattered that she had put so much thought into what she was wearing. Flattered… and worried.


“Well it certainly looks better on you than it would on me,” he said, feeling awkward. He stood up and offered a hand to Luma to guide her to one of the log seats.


Her hand was warm to the touch and almost velvet like in texture. She seemed pleased with his response, =^= The Bohb promised Luma music? =^= Luma took a seat on the log and tucked her princess sundress around her.  She looked up at Bohb with expectation.


Suddenly more at ease with an actual direction Nohb nodded. “Indeed I did.”


He opened the sack and pulled out an instrument that looked like three bongos connected together.   “These are Magillan drums.   I thought I could play some traditional music of my people. Would you like that?  Have you ever heard Magillan music?”


=^= No, Luma  has not heard any. She consulted the library but there was none in the system. Additionally all the relays to the library core are not entirely functional.=^=


Bohb shook his head, “It’s  not surprising. My people keep to themselves. To my knowledge I’m still the only Magillan to have spent much time off planet. There has never been a huge cultural exchange program.”


That awkward feeling returned as he realized he was talking too much about things that only interest him.


“Anyway, Magillan music. It tends to be a bit primitive but it is good music to dance to.”


He moved the drum base between his legs and grabbed the base with his feet. Then he struck the main drum with the base of his thumb once, sending a deep and echoing thump into the jungle setting. He hit the drum head with his other, then each other the smaller drums as he warmed up his hands, the drums and his memory.   Then he turned to Luma.


“Are you ready for this?” Bohb asked.


=^= Luma is eagerly looking forward to hearing the cultural music of the Bohb’s people. May Luma join in on the music once she has a feel for it? =^= The Lenai’s avatar was not great at mimicking humanoid expressions.  =^= Why does the Bohb find Luma uncomfortable? At least Luma thinks that is the correct emotion. Luma is not good at the emotions of the small ones by body language or tone, when she can not sense them telepathically. =^=  A short pause. =^= The Bohb will the Jaton and his Alyl recover? =^=


Bohb shifted his weight awkwardly as he sat, and thought hard how to answer that question.  “I do not find you uncomfortable,” he said reassuringly.  “I am generally uncomfortable around most people when I speak.  Most species have an odd aversion to a speaking primate, humans being the exception.  It has made me uncomfortable.  And I rarely allow myself to get emotionally close to anyone because of that.  Perhaps I am just out of practice and so I tend to ramble until my point comes across more than is necessary.  Like now.”


He stopped and smiled at the current form she had created, “And to be honest I think you are doing well with emotions and my body language, anyway.  I too have similar problems.”


He struck the drum again, and began a slow, rhythmic pattern to build on.  “And yes, if you are feeling the music, by all means, join in.”


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMz6e-mRUVY


His hands moved smoothly from one drum to the others, creating a rhythm that he began to move his head to.  The different tones created by the other two drums were contrasting in tone and vibrations.  There were also beads on the side of the drum that he periodically stroked to give another sound.  It created music that was easy to dance to.


Luma looked utterly delighted as she listened, her tail twitching in time to the drums.  She began to clap her hands in time to the music after about a minute, laughing as she immersed herself in the beat.  Her cat ears finally began to twitch along with the tail. She likely would start dancing if there was a choice.


Bohb began to watch Luma react to the music and smiled. He enjoyed watching people enjoy his music. The way her tail, ears and head all seemed to twitch simultaneously was very cute.


The song came to an end and Bohb smiled at kitty Luma.   “So you liked it?” he asked.


Luma clapped her hands again, this time louder and in delight. =^= Very much so! The Bohb has great skill with the banging of the drums.  The Bohb did not answer Luma’s question about the Jaton and his Alyl? =^=


 Bohb shrugged his shoulders and said, “To be honest I’m not really aware of either of their conditions right now. If they are being treated in sickbay then I’m certain they’ll recover. I know how hard it is to not be able to contact those you care about. I will check on them for you later.  Is that alright?”


Luma made a sound of assent. =^= May Luma play for the Bohb? =^=  She asked hopefully. =^= Vocal or flute; Lenai or Illumari? =^=


Bohb grunted a happy grunt. “Absolutely.”  At the mention of it he was already curious about how the flute would sound with his drums. “0h please, the flute. I really don’t know the difference between Lenai and Illumari. Which ever has the better beat and rhythm.”


Luma paused in that pose that she had that indicated thinking as she conjured up a flute and held it in her hands. =^= Luma can not play traditional Lenai music in this small one form, so she will play music of the Illumari. =^=  She lifted the flute to her lips and blew experimentally. This was a new way for her to make music, normally she thought it and it occurred. This was different and she was not note perfect, but it was rather pretty.  Very reminiscent of Betazoid music.


Bohb closed his eyes and listened to the music. His hands began to move over his drums automatically, beating to the rhythm of the soft and flowing music. It was not as … celebratory as what he had played, but it was equally moving, just in a different way.


When her song came to an end and his hands came to a rest he looked at Luma. “That was… beautiful. Amazing. I could actually feel the emotions of the music.”


He paused for a moment and then said, “Would you mind singing just a little from the Illumari?  In your natural form?  And please, don’t think it’s because I don’t find your current form pleasing. But I would like to hear the natural music of your people.”


Luma nodded, =^= The two are not the same. My native people are the Lenai, not the Illumari.  But I will sing you one of the Illumari pieces first, in this form. It is a song about the search for a home again. The Lenai and the Illumari both had that in common. The Illumari wanted to find a new home for their people and the Lenai did not wish to embrace entropy.”


She began to sing, the song heart breachingly beautiful even if the words were not understandable. =^= The Bohb likes? =^= She asked hopefully.


Bohb sat silently for a moment with his eyes closed, rightly back the tears of the emotions that the song had brought. He did. It understand any of the words, the feelings that were intertwined with the harmonics.


Suddenly he threw his arms around Luma. “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.” He said. “The way the harmonics …,” and that was when it struck him.


He’d been going about his problem with the crystals all wrong. It was the harmonics, they were alive.


“That’s it!” he said full of joy. He pulled Luma into a hug again and kissed her cheek. “That’s it. Why didn’t I think of it before?”


He smacked himself in the head as if to shake his brains loose. “Luma, you are a wonder.”


Luma looked at Bohb curiously. =^= Luma likes kisses! Thanks you the Bohb. Is the date over now? Luma is unsure how long one lasts. =^=


Bohb shrugged, “To be perfectly honest I am not sure either. On Magillan Prime “dates” generally lead to mating rituals and last a very long time. Days.“


=^= The Bohb has never been on a date either? Is not the Bohb ancient by small one standards? =^= Luma didn’t mean to sound rude, she was just curious.


Bohb chuckled at the reference to his age. “Well… I try not to think of myself as being that old. But I am older than almost anyone on this ship. I guess I just never found anyone that I connected with… well … there was this one time… but I’m no Bohemian.  For the most part the females of most species either are not seriously interested in who I am, or only want a once in a lifetime experience that I am unwilling to give.”


=^= Ah they desire to mate with you and not have a relationship? Luma is not capable of mating with any small one. But Luma is happy for her first date. The Bohb is a good male small one. =^=


If anyone could tell, Bohb blushed slightly. “Thank you Luma. That’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me. I enjoyed our first date as well. I would like to do it again. Perhaps others could join us?”


=^= Yes, it is best to make music with more small ones. We should bring Our Sienna, she is quite musical and it makes her happier. She has recently bonded with her T’Mur, so perhaps she will be our audience? Luma needs to go and assist in a science lab. This was a pleasant evening, the Bohb. =^=


Bohb was a little taken aback by the abruptness of Luma’s announcement. But to be honest he wasn’t sure how to end the evening. Besides, Luma had given him much to think about with regards to her crystal.


“Thank you Luma,” he said politely. “I enjoyed the evening as well. I have to go to the engineering lab as well. I’ll talk with you soon.”


Luma’s form faded and disappeared and that sense of her faded from the holodeck, leaving Bohb alone.


Bohb oddly felt the loss of her presence. He’d forgotten what it was like to have a real friend. He moved over to the holodeck controls. He pressed the controls to save the program and it shimmered and dissolved into the hologrid.


He turned back to the empty holodeck and smiled. He wondered about Luma’s statement about mating. Was it the act of mating or the procreation element of mating she was meaning. An interesting thought that made him smile as he put his drums in their bag, threw them over his shoulder and headed to the engineering lab.


(reply none)

(posted by Al Muir and Mel G)





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