Selok and Rash'al

"A relaxant." Selok replied, pouring himself a portion. "It's uses have been widely used on Vulcan for many years in place of chocolate."

"So it's sort of like human's alcohol," Rash'al said, thoroughly enjoying the vague warmth and numbness that the liquid was providing. "We have drinks like this on Romulus - but none that fail to make you cringe." He took another, longer sip from the cup.

A few seconds of silence passed between them, before - set slightly at ease by the effects of the drink - he glanced over at Selok again.

"So what is your story, then, Mr. Vulcan?" he said lazily, sitting back against the cave wall again and taking another sip from his drink. "We're out here alone, with no foreseeable hope of escaping, so you might as well tell. What brings you this far out of the sector in a shuttle for one?"

"I was in a shuttle because your ship attacked." Selok replied, raising an eyebrow at him as he settle down with his back against the wall. "And you?"

"I was in a shuttle because I didn't want to be on the ship attacking yours," Rash'al said simply, sipping from the cup again. "You might not have been there to see it, but that Romulan warbird was taken down approximately two minutes after you probably left your ship. It wasn't the Vulcans we were at war with."

Selok lowered the glass, swallowing the liquid. "Then why did you fire on us?"

"You were in the way," Rash'al shrugged, sipping his cup again. "...and we don't like you."

"So the logical thing would be to invite two ships to attack you instead of dealing with the one." Selok concluded, taking another sip. "Highly unwise."

"Captain Vol'ok was an idiot. Everyone knew that," Rash'al said offhandedly. "Hence why I refused to set foot on the ship, even though I was supposed to. It was a suicide mission. Mor'dok said I'd live to regret it...I just didn't have any idea I'd end up like this."

Selok nodded, listening. "Who is Mor'dok?"

Rash'al rolled his eyes toward the ceiling before answering. "My cousin. He and I worked in the same field, and he believes in something very close to karma. He knew why I was leaving, but he insisted that if I left the Neutral Zone that way it would come back to haunt me. So far, all of his predictions have been right except one." He sipped from the cup again. "I was going to pay off a tradeship to take me as far as Gama Quadrant III. Obviously, I didn't make it that far."

"And yet you are alive," Selok pointed out. "Unlike the rest of those on your ship."

"Yeah, well, who knows how long that' will last," Rash'al muttered, staring down into his cup. "If this place doesn't kill me, fugitiveness just might. Though anything's better than staying where I was." He looked over at the Vulcan with a vague, crooked smile. "I'm engaged, you know."

Selok raised an eyebrow. "Engaged?"

"Yes," Rash'al said, lifting his cup as if to himself. "Engaged to the most wonderfully disgusting creature ever to be birthed into this galaxy." He took another long sip of the drink in his hand. "I couldn't stand to be within three feet of her, much less imagine marrying her. There was only one way out." He was silent for a moment, before glancing over at Selok again. "And you? What were you doing on that unfortunate ship of yours? Ship chef?"

Selok raised an eyebrow. "There are no chefs on ships, Rash'al. We have replicator's now."

"I wasn't being serious," Rash'al said, sipping up the last drops from his cup, then frowning down at it when he realized it was empty. "But - really. What did you do there? Or were you just a passenger?"

"I was a passenger." Selok replied, leaning forward and taking his cup from him to refill.

"Going where?"

"Back to Vulcan." Selok replied, handing him his cup.

"From where?" Rash'al pressed him, eyeing him as he took the cup and took another long sip. "It can't be all that secretive, can it?"

Selok gave him a look that suggested just that as he returned to his wall. "Near where you found us. I was conducting a research project that has consumed the vast majority of my life."

"Aha," Rash'al said, drinking from his cup again. "Bio-life construction. You weren't working on Genesis, were you?"

Selok raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised. "How are you familiar with that project?"

Rash'al let out a low chuckle over the rim of his cup. "Because Mor'dok was given a mission last year to take out the head of your operation." He looked up at Selok again. "It didn't end up happening, of course. Which was unfortunate for me, because I would have been the next one assigned to the job, had I not decided to leave. It's lucky on your end, though, because you very well might have been taken out with the rest of the squad." He sipped his drink again. "Gargov was also freaking out about the new male carrier genes you'd discovered. A 20% chance of doubling a species' fertility rate was not exactly a happy scientific discovery for our biologists."

Selok was visibly surprised. "I was not aware Romulus was so informed."