[Fin][Zack?/open] Three lifeforms, one big mess

[Cadet Syell Chrym]

Cadet Syell (as he much preferred to be called to avoid association with that other side of him, the Symbiont living inside him) looked at the mess on his side of his quarters, and sighed. Apparently, his frustration at not getting his Command exercises right had caused him to turn over a lot of his personal stuff. I'm lucky Zackery is on duty, he thought. He likes the quarters tidy, and even though it's his turn to tidy them, he'll have a fit when he sees the mess I made.

Part of him felt guilty, the other had an urge to legalistically cling to the arrangement he had made with Syda, and he knew which was which. For the young Joined Trill, the prospect was quite frightening. He remembered his own selfless actions, including where he had told the Guardian that he'd Join with Chrym to preserve the Symbiont's vital intel, but he also had darker, more frightening memories.

A Borg cube, floating in space. "We are the Borg. Power down your shields and surrender your vessel. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile." The hail, over and over again. Lieutenant-Commander Chrym of Starfleet Intelligence, running amidst the screams to a prepared Escape Pod. The screams, the screams, the Borg boarding the vessel... all due to him, and he felt no remorse.

Syell snapped out of the memory. No, it was necessary! he tried to defend himself. Without it, the Alpha Quadrant would all be assimilated! The conflict of feelings overpowered him, and he sat down on the bed. It was by far the most painful memory of all that he knew. For the compassionate, serene and caring Syell, the extent of Nycho's crime - his crime - that caused the entire crew of the USS Iphigenia to be assimilated was unforgivable and worse, unforgettable. It haunted him. The symbiont should be dead, he painfully realised. But I am the symbiont.

No, I will not become you, Chrym, he told himself, or that part of himself that kept justifying the terrible means with the end of defeating the Borg. In the end, you will become me. He was Syell Chrym now, but he had to be more Syell than Chrym: it would cause some of his compassion to rub off on the heartless symbiont, hopefully.

Better start now, Syell thought on both accounts, feeling emotionally tired. He picked up the mess he had made. Luckily, nothing was broken. Nobody will ever notice what happened here.

Tag: Any (Zack, perhaps?)

[Cadet Zackery Syda]

Zack had just gotten off duty, well technically he got off duty an hour ago. The reason he stayed an extra hour in the science lab was to work on an experiment. Some extra work was a good thing. At least he never thought so before. Also, spending some enjoyable time on the holodeck off duty with Miss Rose; which had been unexpected, but still fun, Zack had felt the need to do some extra work.

Now he felt the need to relax. So, he walked into his quarters, well okay, shared quarters. Upon doing so he saw the mess then took a step back out to look at the cabin number on the door; just to make sure it was the correct room. And...it was. Zack stepped back inside and looked around.

"Did someone plant a small explosive devise in this room to make everything land about...everywhere?" That had been a light joke.

Tag: Syell

[Cadet Syell Chrym]

And my PADD on my desk, and ah, the jacket of my spare uniform. "Let's put that..."

"Did someone plant a small explosive devise in this room to make everything land about...everywhere?"

Syell turned to look at Zackery, the spare jacket in his hand. He chuckled lightly at Zack's joke, remaining calm, relaxed and in control. "A Symbiont did it," he said, grinning. "He went that way," he continued, and pointed at his belly. Making fun of Chrym is a good way to deal with him, Syell thought. Although he is certainly no joke. Then he walked towards the door to greet his roommate with a firm shake of the hand.

"How was your shift?" he asked. Then, teasing him a bit. "And your date with Ensign Digby?" He grinned, then turned. "Now excuse me, I have to clean up my mess," he said. "You could help a hand- it's your turn, remember?" That last part came effortlessly. There, at least, was something host and symbiont could agree on.

Tag: Zack

[Cadet Zackery Syda]

"A Symbiont did it," "He went that way,"

"Oh." Zack said lightly giving a nod. "Well, make sure he doesn't get away before we can question." Zack said trying to make a little lighthearted joke out of it. Hopefully Syell wouldn't say something like 'you mean she'. Joined Trills could be a bit difficult to understand or make jokes with at times seeing as the host was not always a male or a female, and both the Symbiont and host knew that. It was a wonder that they didn't end up with MPD.

"How was your shift?"

"Shift was great. Even had extra time to do a project."

"And your date with Ensign Digby?"

"It wasn't a date!" Zack picked up a sweater from the floor, shook it then folded it. "It was more of a friendly get together. Pals, chums type of thing." Zack explained placing the sweater on the back of a chair. "We went to the fifties okay. So it was a historical hang out." Yeah.

"I know it's my turn." Zack said as he helped more with the mess. "How was your day?"

Tag: Syell

[Cadet Syell Chrym]

Syell laughed heartily with Zack, like good friends do. Like Syell expected, Zack jumped to his own defence denying that his date with Rose Digby was a date. Truth be told, Syell felt a little envious. He hadn't lacked dates in his previous hosts, but that was some time ago and they weren't always equally sincere.

"Can't fool a former Intelligence Officer, my friend," said Syell with a grin, abusing a previous host's position to tease his friend. "You're suspiciously defensive. I would say you had a date, just from the way you reacted to the word." On second thought, he shouldn't have brought Nycho up. He only barely avoided the memory of his crime.

He was asked about his day. "Oh, did some studying in addition to my duties," he said. "As you just saw, I got frustrated on a particularly difficult exercise." That wasn't usual, and Zack would know it: Syell was a shining example of a Starfleet Officer.

The bell rang. Somebody was at the door.

Tag: Rose/Zack

[Ensign Rose Digby]

The person who was at the door was the very subject of the conversation a few minutes ago: Rose Digby, Zack's date (or not). The doors slid open and Rose looked into Zack's quarters. She was, honestly, a bit startled to discover it wasn't as tidy as she had expected. Boys... she thought. Never tidy up their room.

"Zack!" she exclaimed. "You should clean up your quarters better!" She couldn't help laughing a bit at the view of the room, as if something had exploded in there, and Zack's Trill roommate standing there with a half-folded jacket in his hands, ready to put it back where it belonged. She didn't think for a minute whose mess this was. As far as she was concerned, these two boys where both responsible.

Tag: Zack

[Cadet Zackery Syda]

"You're suspiciously defensive. I would say you had a date, just from the way you reacted to the word."

Tempting as it was to respond Zack didn't give in. He just muttered a few things under his breath as he continued to help clean up. He also listened to his roommate talk. Then...saved by the bell! Or so Zack thought until he saw who it was. Zack looked upwards. Can't I have one little break? No doubt Syell would tease him about this too.

"You should clean up your quarters better!"

"You're fully welcome to help." Zack said with a smile as he gestured for Rose to come in if she wanted to. "What's up?" Zack asked casually.

Tag: Either

[Ensign Rose Digby]

Rose sort of felt sorry for Zack. She shouldn't have spoken to him like that, especially not in front of his roommate. Still, she meant well. This place is in no state to receive a lady. Still, Zack looked rather embarrassed by her sudden entry into the battlefield, and that made her feel sorry for her friend.

"You're fully welcome to help." When he said that, Zack smiled disarmingly and gestured for Rose to come in, a smile she returned when she entered. "Do I look like a housewife to you?" she said jokingly as she moved in to tidy the bed. "But you know me, Zack, always happy to help you." Even when you boys make a mess of your quarters.

Tag: Syell

[Cadet Syell Chrym]

Well, when you call the devil! Syell thought with a grin as Rose Digby, the very girl they'd been talking about, stepped into the room and found his mess. He had to admit: Zack could do worse than Ensign Digby, who was quite pretty. He continued cleaning up the room as he listened to her conversation with his roommate. He couldn't help but feeling very pleased with himself that he had escaped justice for this little misdemeanour again.

"Do I look like a housewife to you?" This made Syell chuckle, until he realised it was not very polite. Instead, he gave Zack a look that screamed 'so you are her boyfriend'. Oh, how he loved teasing him at times.

Tag: Zack

[Cadet Zackery Syda]

Zack looked at Syell. Obviously annoyed. However, he did his best to shrug it off. Now was not the time to get into a fight with his roommate. Mainly so because Rose was here. That would just not be very good behavior. So another time.

"Thank you Miss Rose." Zack said as he went to straighten up a desk near Syell.

"I was wondering, Syell, when the last time you had the pleasure of a young womans company off duty on this ship." Zack said in a nonchalantly hushed tone so Rose could not hear.

Tag: Syell

[Cadet Syell Chrym]

In the progress of putting straight the books on his desk, Syell noticed that Zack had deliberately come over to his side of the room while Rose was on the other side. "I was wondering, Syell, when the last time you had the pleasure of a young womans company off duty on this ship." Syell looked at him, a bit annoyed.

"What's that go to-" he began angrily but in the same hushed tone as Zack, then stopped short. "Alright, to tell you the truth..." He paused. It was painful to admit, but although he was not un-handsome, since being Joined had not enjoyed the comfort of a young woman. Nycho had been notorious for his womanising, like a bad-ass James Bond. Syell, not so much.

"I haven't."

Tag: Rose

[Ensign Rose Digby]

In the meantime, Rose was collecting several spare parts (she didn't know what they were for) which were scattered on the other side of the room where they had apparently fallen out of their box. When she finished, she looked around the quarters for something else to tidy, then saw Syell and Zack standing around the desk speaking to eachother in hushed tones so that Rose couldn't hear.

She moved over to them. "Don't you two gentlemen know that you shouldn't whisper in company?" she asked laughing.

Tag: Zack

[Cadet Zackery Syda]

"I haven't."

"Yeah. That's what I thought. So maybe you should save it for someone else..." Zack said as he gave Syell a pat on the back. And apparently they'd been away long enough just for Rose to notice. Or perhaps not. For quite a while he suspected women had some kind of radar that told them exactly what was going on or being talked about even if they were not in the room. Heck, even before something could be said one of his sisters or female friends would say 'Don't even think about saying that!' or not in the same room would say: 'That's my piece of cake. Don't eat it.'

Zack turned around so he was facing Rose. "Sorry Miss Rose." Zack apologized, though she was laughing. "Actually," Zack smiled as he took a step toward her, stepping over something in the process. "we were just wondering if you knew of any single young ladies somewhere between ages twenty to twenty five or something?"

Tag: Rose/Syell

[Ensign Rose Digby]

Rose couldn't help laughing. Her female intuition told her that Zack was asking on Syell's behalf, apparently because poor Syell had trouble finding a date. "Well... "she said, thinking. Truth be told, she hadn't had contact with many young women of her age. The ones she knew were all accounted for. All, except... "My roommate, Dhael Solius."

There was one complication that explained Dhael's relationship status, apart from being quite unpleasant at times. "Uhm..." she said, thinking of how to put it. "There is but one slight problem. She's Romulan."

She hoped for Syell that Zack wouldn't laugh.

Tag: Zack

[Cadet Zackery Syda]

Well, that might be very interesting. "Sounds perfect." Zack said as he turned to look at his roommate. "Right?" Inside Zack was sort of laughing though he knew he shouldn't be. But Syell is a joined Trill so there had to be something inside that would help him with a Romulan female. Some past host had to know something!

"Perhaps the four of us could all get together sometime?" Zack suggested to both.

Tag: Both