Game? What Game... The Social Post
Posted on Sat May 9th, 2026 @ 4:12pm by Lieutenant Commander Ryan Keel & Lieutenant JG Jezra Siv MD
Edited on on Sun May 10th, 2026 @ 2:59am
2,241 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: Rec Room 12
Timeline: MD10, 1900
::ON::
Having ran into Jezra earlier, and recalling the tough time they'd had of late, Keel had done some digging, and thought he had found the perfect way to get their mind off what had been happening around them. Writing a message to them, he paused for a moment, wondering if he came across right.
Jezra,
Come to Rec Room 12 at 1900. I have a surprise for you - hopefully it'll take your mind off things a bit.
Yours,
Ryan.
He shrugged, hit send. Glancing at the chrono he reckoned he had enough time to get ready.
Meanwhile, in Sickbay, Jezra raised a brow as they read the message that came across their screen. The vagueness left room for guesses as to what this could entail, and while the last couple days had been one surprise after the next... this one was actually welcomed. She gave the computer screen a little smile before confirming.
:: 1900 Hours ::
At the requested time, Jezra passed into Rec Room 12. Unsure of the dress code but wanting to be out of uniform, the Trill opted for a blue tank top that exposed their tattoos and comfortable beige pants.
Spotting the physician, Keel smiled and waved them over, pleased they'd actually turned up. Wearing a plaid shirt, faded jeans and a belt with a large buckle, he looked every inch the Rigelian backwoodsman. He was leaning against the billiard holotable. He'd placed a few tokens down the side, as was tradition, but he was unsure whether that was respected here.
'Evenin' Doc,' he said as they got closer, favouring them with a lazy smile. 'Care for a few games?'
Spotting Keel, Jezra got closer and returned the smile. They noticed the billiards table and chuckled, "that sounds great. Though cut me some slack, I haven't played in almost 80 years."
'Eighty? I thought I was out of practice,' Keel replied with a chuckle. Straightening he took a token off the side, and pressed the release as he slotted the token into the machine. 'I hope you're not so rusty that you don't remember how to rack up,' he said casually, stepping away to pick up a cue.
Jezra snickered as they grabbed the triangular rack. "Yarem Siv had some Human friends who would try to hustle him," they recalled aloud, grabbing the balls to fill the rack. "He learned the rules of the game so he could try to hustle them back." Nudging the cue ball to the opposite end of the table, Jezra swapped a couple balls until they were alternating as they were supposed to. They nudged the rack twice, a clear habit rather than necessity, before lining up the balls and slowly lifting the rack.
Once the rack cleared the balls, Jezra grinned and set it aside. "Not bad for an old man, huh?" They joked.
'Not bad at all,' Keel drawled as he watched them go about their work. 'Who's breaking, me? I'd at least like a chance to hit the balls. I have terrible aim with the cue,' he said with a self-deprecating smile. He found a chalk cube and twisted it across the tip of the cue until he was satisfied with it.
With a 'be my guest' gesture, Jezra moved over to the rack of sticks and grabbed one. "Just don't launch it off the table and you'll be fine," they teased.
He flashed her a smirk, and bent over the table, leaning back on his knees as he practiced the motion of hitting the billiard ball with his cue. Satisfied he had the motion down, he closed an eye and thrust the cue firmly. With a thwock, the white slammed into the triangle Jez assembled and scattered them across the baze.
Keel straightened and shrugged, 'seems alright,' he said neutrally.
Jezra watched the balls scatter, the sound jogging memories through Yarem's eyes. Laughter, music, rough-housing, and enough beer to make the room spin. "Not bad," they complimented, walking around the table to find the best shot. When they lined up the shot, something in their form shifted, almost like it wasn't quite Jezra's instinct making small adjustments to the cue. Aiming a little lower on the ball, they struck. The white ball rolled toward one of the corner pockets where another ball was waiting. The two balls clacked together, and the coloured one went into the pocket while the white spun backwards a few centimeters. "Solids," they announced with a little smile.
As Jezra moved to find a new ball to target, they asked, "so, what's the occasion?"
'It's been a stressful time,' Keel replied as he watched them work the table, looking this way and that for a ball. 'I figured you could use some time to relax, someone to shoot the shit with.' He shrugged, 'so I dug around for something that might be enjoyable for you to do that isn't smashing things to bits.'
The Trill laughed as they lined up the next shot. Having company that wasn't hellbent on breaking the rules was already making this whole mess tolerable. "In my defense, you caught me right after I had to reprimand someone. It was not pretty, and there wasn't much more talking that could be done to rectify it." They struck the ball, then frowned slightly when the yellow ball they were targeting missed the pocket.
'Sometimes you just have to let it out,' Keel nodded, leaning against a pool table just across from theirs. 'Personally, I prefer the shooting range. Get some old-fashioned ballistics and let rip,' he unfolded his arms as he saw the yellow miss the pocket, and sauntered across the short space. Casting an eye across the layout, he selected a likely looking red ball, and leaned in with his cue, and hit the ball. It hit the red solidly, bouncing it off the shoulder of the table to take a diagonal into a pocket. 'Of course, it's not to everyone's taste,' Keel said, raising his eyebrows in surprise at what he'd achieved. Going for another shot, he skimmed the ball, sending it into a cluster causing them to explode out across the baize.
The pocket was good, and Jezra nodded. "The shooting range might not be a bad idea," they commented, eyes scanning the layout for the next ball to hit. "I'll have to try it sometime."
'You're not opposed to weapons?' Keel asked, curious. 'Only because you're a physician, of course.' He watched them study the balls on the table and how they related to it, and decided he had made a good decision. Siv seemed absorbed in the game, which meant, to Keel at least, she was free from dwelling on the events of the past few days, even if for a short while.
Jezra paused in the mental game of strategy to look up at Keel with surprise, followed by a laugh. "I'm not just a physician, you know," they responded with amusement. A smirk lingering on their face, Jezra refocused on the balls, selecting a yellow one that had the best possible line. The only problem was that one of the striped balls was in the way. "Sure, I'd rather not use a weapon if I can avoid it, but I understand its purposes and why refreshers are important." Leaning over, Jezra decided on an angle and lined up the cue, eyes squinting slightly in concentration. "Let's see if these hands can get away with this..."
A sharp jab toward the bottom of the cue ball caused it to jump over the striped ball. It struck the yellow she was going for, and then proceeded to follow the ball into the pocket. With an exasperated sigh, Jezra dipped their head dramatically before straightening. "The boys hated when Yarem would do that. He could create a nasty backspin on the cue ball."
'I think I would have hated that if it had worked too,' Keel chuckled, retrieving the cue ball from the receptacle in the pool table's sides. 'That's a hell of a trick shot when it works.' He placed the ball back on the line. Looking over the baize he once more selected a target and zeroed in on it, a nice easy shot that snagged the cue ball behind a red. 'Good luck,' he smirked.
Jezra stared at the cue for a couple seconds before sending a smirking glare over to Keel. "Weren't you ever taught to respect your elders?"
He flashed a smile in return, 'my parents weren't the teaching type.' Looking over the baize he quirked an eyebrow, 'but I've learnt to respect someone who's got game, y'know?'
It was impossible to stay mad at him. Jezra's expression dissolved into amusement as they looked for the next shot. "You're not so bad yourself." Finding an acceptable shot, Jezra lined up and struck, using the red ball to hit another.
'Oh that comes with practice,' Keel assured her, leaning against the pool table. 'Granted, a human doesn't have as much time for practice as Joined Trill, so we have to learn fast.' He looked at them affably. 'Do you mind if I ask you what it's like?'
Glancing up, Jezra raised a brow. "Being joined? Hmm..." They rested a hand on their hip as they thought about what it was like. It was difficult because they were just so used to it by now. "It's a unique experience for everybody, and depends on the personalities of the past hosts. For me, it's... noise, I think is a good way to explain it." They then smirked, "or are you asking what it's like to instantly be good at something?"
'Both,' Keel chuckled, match momentarily forgotten. 'But I think I'm leaning more towards the noise aspect of it. Like what humans would call voices in your head?' He took a swallow of his synthehol beer. 'Or more like the wind rustling through some trees?'
A quiet 'hmm' came from Jezra as they tried to think of what it was like. "You're asking me to explain an instinct," they teased. "Let me try an analogy, because I can come up with six different answers and I'm sure none of them will be helpful." They gestured to Keel, "you have diplomatic meetings, right? And say you have been given a team of advisors for this meeting. You didn't pick the advisors, but you all have been assigned to this case. You are the one who is engaging in the meeting, however your advisors can offer their own experiences to guide your responses. So imagine that, but in your head." They paused before tilting their head in thought, "... and occasionally less organised."
'Oh I've seen some disorganised meetings in my time,' Keel replied. 'You'd be surprised how many high-stakes diplomatic initiatives have almost been undone by some green-behind-the-ears aide who forgot something crucial.' He smiled again, 'so, having some diorganised advisers at the back of the mind doesn't seem too bad.' He shrugged, 'I always expect it to be like a whirling tornado in there with different personalities asserting themselves at different times. I'm glad it's more manageable than that.'
Jezra chuckled at the analogy of a tornado. "If it were like a whirling tornado of personalities, that would be a problem," they pointed out. "Joined Trill perform a ritual after joining to... I guess 'assert yourself' is a decent way to describe it. Being drowned out by the past hosts is dangerous, so there must be balance between the symbiont and the host." They thought for a second before adding, "for me, my 'advising team' consists of two doctors, a baker, a teacher, and an idiot. So it's usually fairly civil."
'Seems like quite a varied life for your symbiote to have been through - did the baking skills transfer?' Keel asked with a slight smirk, fascinated by Jezra. 'I could really go for some Trill focaccia, y'know?'
"Did you not get some of the food Eirly and I made some time ago??" Jezra asked, surprised.
'I've not been aboard that long,' Keel admitted, 'I transferred over from Sector Command a few weeks ago.' He smiled, then shrugged, 'I figured I should branch out a bit and build some actual links here as it seems I'll be assigned to Astrea for the foreseeable.' His smile widened, 'it seemed like we'd get along as well as two Urgelian parakeets in a baelbool tree.'
That made Jezra blink a couple times. "Wow, it feels like you've been around for longer. Which I suppose is a testament to how well you've fit in here." They gave him a smile.
'It's a comfortable place,' Keel replied with his own wide smile. 'Good people, good challenges. I'm looking forward to seeing what the future brings for a change.'
Jezra's grin widened slightly. "Maybe we can start with getting you better at pool."
Lt. Commander Ryan Keel
Chief of Diplomatic Intelligence
USS Astrea
Lieutenant J.G. Jezra Siv
Chief Medical Officer
USS Astrea
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