Log Date: 9/14/97 Log Cast: Shenneret Veery, Shikh Cthon, Paul Nighman Log Intro: Safely on Corellia, their V'ez-tcha passengers having been dropped off, Shenner has occupied herself with the task of making sure Paul gets some rest after the sleepless two days he spent getting them to Corellia... and afterwards, with her studies, and with helping do small odd jobs about the ship. The girl hasn't noticed that Shikh and Paul have entered into a faceoff with one another over _her_.... ---------- It is arguably an incongruous sight, to see Shenner with her attention riveted to a datapad, her brow furrowed in concentration, her lips moving slightly as she reads to herself. On the other hand, her position on the couch is far more informal than her recent study habits would seem to allow; the girl's actually sitting with her feet propped up on the back of that couch, her head propped on the front edge of the cushion she's on, pointed up as she studies her pad's tiny screen. Scattered around her are a handful of data discs, both in and out of their jackets. Shikh_Cthon's hand flaps loosely against the arm of the couch he's sprawled out on, his other hand tucked behind his head, feet crossed on the edge of the table before him. His eyes are fixed on the holonews broadcast playing out uninterestingly in front of him. Sparing a moment of unrapt attention for Shenner, he glances over at her, brow furrowing a bit. Half-sarcastically, he calls over to her, "Readin' somethin' good, ki... Shenner?" he catches himself at the last moment. Green eyes lift -- or, perhaps, drop, given that Shenner is currently more or less upside down -- and the young woman says absently, "Yep...! Just about done with this chapter...." Shikh_Cthon sniffs in mild disbelief, his lips perking up at one end into a trademark Corellian smirk, "Yeah? Tell me bout it then... maybe I know somethin' of what you're into there..." Despite his cocksure tone, he betrays a slight lack of confidence at the prospect, maybe enough to be caught by the emerald eyes, somewhat accustomed to his behaviors, if anyone is. Shen looks up more attentively, her own mouth curving in a smirklike expression, though hers is closer to a smile. "You know anything about the musical customs of the Trianii, pal?" Shikh_Cthon bites his lower lip for a second, then ventures, "They're those cat-people, right?" His brows lift questioningly, all attempts to cover his underlying blankness relaxed in favor of the humor he can glean more effectively from this situation. "Felines, right!" Shenner brightens, rolling over in a sideways sort of flop off the couch, continuing the motion till she's sitting up on the floor. "I don't _think_ they're related to the Horansi, but hey, it's a big galaxy... so I been readin' about 'em in the musical history text I picked up, see?" Shikh_Cthon nods dumbly, "A-huh... what's so important bout their music though?" Paul reaches the hatch of the ship his palm raising to enter the proper code, but hovers there for a moment. It took him hours ... almost all day ... before he could find just the right present. He had wracked his mind after returning the spiteful and inappropriate gift of the sexy lingerie. While the silk nightgown, if that term could be used for the tiny slip of an object, was personally satisfying both in terms of revenge toward Shikh for putting him in this awkward position as well as his own personal gains, he realized that it was unfair to Shenner. She would be not only puzzled, but also scandalized and embarrassed. He had no desire to make her an equal victim on a prank he wanted to play on Shikh. Hopefully the public announcement would be sufficiently awkward for the younger Corellian ... but Paul doubted it. Staring at the package under his arm, Paul sighs, hoping that he hasn't made the younger man actually look better for his efforts. Finally palms the lock, entering the correct sequence and entering the ship. "Oh, well, see, it ain't quite so much their music as it is their _dance_, see, but they--" The noise of the hatch coming open makes Shenner look up, and she pipes, "Paul!" Shikh_Cthon manages to quickly cover up his unchecked wince, and turns to greet Paul with a polite grin, though he keeps quiet studying the older Corellian, trying to figure out exactly what about him is so alluring to Shenner, what he has that Shikh just doesn't... Paul glances over to Shen, a smile curling his lips at her position and enthusiasm. It then travels over to rest on Shikh. He doesn't know if the younger Corellian has noticed the fact that Paul's been avoiding him or not. Doesn't matter now. His eyes flash a message to Shikh, one of challenge, before he physically as well as mentally turns back to Shenner, holding out the wrapped package to her. "This is for you," he offers, sweeping off his battered hat with one hand, tossing it casually onto a nearby hook, "from Shikh ... with love." Shenner blinks, two or three times, taken aback first by the offered package, then by Paul's accompanying words. "What?" she says blankly, looking between the two men. Shikh_Cthon's expression flickers a moment, then becomes still, frustration and anxious curiosity ruling over all else. He glares at Paul, then back at Shen, and flashes a weak grin, jutting his chin forward to urge her on. He bites his tongue, knowing anything he might say would probably make things bad, very bad -- but some choice words for Paul's ears only start to crystallize in his mind, to be saved for some later time. Paul turns nonchalantly, showing no surprise or concern for that matter. He slips off his leather jacket, hanging that up with equal aplomb as he did the toss of the hat. "You heard me," he replies lightly. "That's a present to you, from Shikh, with love. Which part of the message didn't you get Shen?" The smile on his lips takes away the potential to misunderstand his statement and take it as a potshot. Shenner gets to her feet, rather bemused as to why, if this present is from Shikh, _Paul_ is giving it to her. But, grinned at by the younger Corellian, she steps towards Paul, grinning a bit herself. "Well, uh, okay.... what is this?" "It's a present .... you -open- it," Paul explains patiently, scuffing off toward the kitchen as if he didn't care if she through it into the recycler. "Anybody want something from the kitchen?" he calls back idly. Something in Paul's statement makes Shenner giggle. She turns most of her attention to unwrapping the gift, though, casting Shikh a curious glance as she does so. "So what brought this on?" she asks lightly, as off comes the paper... Shikh_Cthon swallows back the urge to intervene along with the lump in his throat, leaning back on the couch to watch again, an uneasiness apparent in his movements. He shakes his head at Paul's comment, but remains silent, eyes fixed on Shenner, as she begins to toy with the package. He sniffs and clears his throat, unable to free himself of the suspense of just what is in that package. As the paper falls away it reveals a plain white box. Shikh_Cthon only shrugs in answer to Shen's query, chuckling nervously as the layers of obscurity fall away to finally reveal what Paul has done to him... The box opened reveals a skin covered object, which reveals itself to be a drum when pulled from the box. It is very simple and yet incredibly elegant in it's simplicity. It is made from a wood frame, shaped into an octagon, the skin of some unknown animal stretched across it's frame, milky white and taut. There is a handle, made of cords that are also what pull the skin tight, centered at the back. Along with it comes a strange sort of stick, the grip carved and in the center, but there is a padded point on -each- end of it. Clearly thre must be a technique to this as the grip doesn't feel like you're just supposed to hold it and beat the drum with one end. Paul returns with a cup of coffee in his hands as no one requested that he bring anything additional. Depsite himself, he watches Shen's reaction with curiousity. It may have been Shikh's money that paid for the damn thing, but it was his idea, and it's the -thought- that counts. Shikh_Cthon sniffs again, and grins in relief. He glances quickly at Paul, then back to Shenner, his worst fears -- that Paul might do something nutty like pick out /lingerie/, or something equally tasteless -- allayed. "Oh...." Shenner barely breathes this, but she's clearly awestruck. Scrambling over to sit down again on the couch, crossing her legs beneath her and placing the drum in her lap, she fiddles with the stick-thing, turning it experimentally about in her hands. A grin starts spreading out across her face, and she breathes, "_Cool_...!" Shikh_Cthon can't help but chuckle at Shen's obvious interest in the gift, quickly glancing at Paul again, reconsidering the hasty words he'd formulated for their next private discussion. As he looks back to Shen, he grins widely, "Ya like it then?" Perhaps one's face truly is a mirror to one's soul. Paul glances over at Shikh, his smile curling a little cruelly as he reads the younger Corellian's fears there, his own gaze informing Shikh that he was right to be afraid. His attention is then pulled back toward Shen's mark of approval, and folding his arms suavely, he leans against the nearby wall, content to take in the scene and watch her experience the drum. "Never had a drum before...!" the girl pipes. "Where'd you get this, Paul? What kinda drum is it?" Shen taptaps on the thing experimentally with its stick, her eyes roving over its workmanship, as she leans it against herself. She grins at Shikh then and adds, "Hey, I been wantin' to learn another instrument anyway!" Shikh_Cthon nods, but his smile fades a bit as he is forced into sharing the limelight with Paul as opposed to being solely in it, or better yet absent from it. --So /that's/ why he did it...-- some inner voice grumbles in annoyance, and Shikh glances at his rival once more, awaiting his answer to Shen's questions. Pushing off the wall, but keeping his arms folded, Paul murmurs, "Ah, just a little backwater hole in the alleyway ... forgot all about the place, but they carry some of the best instruments from all over the galaxy. Old Abenar had a lot of drums, but this seemed the easiest to carry about - light, fairly flat, good sound, versatile." Watching her play with the stick and how to play it, he murmurs, "It's called a Bohderan, from Astoria ... and if you like, I got coached on exactly how you play the dang thing. At any rate, this way you and Shikh can play drums for real, right?" Shenner blinkblinkblinks. "Shikh plays drums?" she says, startledly, flashing a green-eyed glance to the younger man, her face lit with interest. Shikh_Cthon clears his throat again, as a blush rises to his cheeks and he lowers his eyes a bit. He mumbles under his breath, "A-huh... a little." That catches Paul off guard, glancing first at Shikh and then Shenner, muttering, "Ah, yeah ... I thought you two played on Etti IV?" There is the decided look of _Oh shit, I screwed it up_ across Paul's features for a moment there as he scrambles through his recollections of the past few days, made hazy with all the insanity of late. The redheaded girl flashes a look between the two men again, saying puzzledly, "We never played, no -- I promised to teach _Kux_ how to play a drum, but that was different... you _do_ play?" Shen clearly addresses this to Shikh, as she grins at him, broadly. The spotlight is off him, and Paul leans once again to the wall, noticing that mix up or not, it still has worked for Shikh's benefit. There is a not so brief moment when Paul wishes that he had held onto that nightgown after all ... Shikh_Cthon shrugs again, peering back up at Shen nervously, "Usedta... ya." Flashing another look at Paul, he can see the regret showing a bit on his face and he gains some reassurance from it, taking advanatge of how things have come to pass. "Here on C'rellia, actually...when I was really young." "Yeah? You never told me you played! Hells, and all those times I was jammin' at the cafe, too!" Shen grins, mock-scoldingly, and hops up to move towards Shikh, drum and its stick in hand. "So you know about this kinda drum, or what?" Shikh_Cthon clears his throat, sitting up and giving Shen room to climb on the couch beside him. Unwilling to give up the attention he's got from her, he tries to cheat his way through this little snag, since he's never in his life seen one of these drums, let alone played one, "Not much, only what I've heard... s'possedly, they've got a really cool sound though." Trying to pass off the actual playing to Shen herself, he urges her on, "Yer good with this kinda stuff... see if'n you can figure it out first." He grins, completely confident she can do it on her own, through luck, intuition, or a combination of hte two. "Well, huh, if you got pads on each end I guess you kinda roll it back and forth..." Shen says with delight, resettling the drum in her lap and experimentally tapping its head first with one end of the stick and then the other. The nasty frown turns into a nasty grin, as Paul notes Shikh's pathetic attempt to hold on to the attention won. Clearing his face, Paul turns, idly strolling over to a nearby seat and folds himself into it, sipping at his coffee with a casual air of indifference, flawed only by a slightly evil smile. Shikh_Cthon lifts his head a bit, overlooking Shen's experimentations, and eyeing Paul surreptitiously for some sign either way. "A-huh..." he murmurs, "Go on... toldya you'd figger it out alright..." The girl doesn't quite have it down ... she's holding the stick completely wrong as well as the drum. Nice things about drums though, even if you don't know what you're doing, you can make them sound good. Paul remains seated, folding his legs and watching Shikh try to make way with the redhead, tossing copious amounts of bullshit this way and that. The edges of the smile curl further as he takes another sip. Tap. Tap. Tap a tap tap. The drum in Shen's hands resonates with her questioning thumps, and she tells both the men, "This _is_ great... ah, man, now I wish I could play the drum and the guitar and the flute all at once...!" She looks up, eyes bright. "Thank you!" This first to Paul, then she looks to Shikh, as the named originator of the gift. "Thank you!" Tilting his head at the thanks, Paul offers Shen a brighter more genuine smile, the bitter sarcastic edges melting in the light of her pleasure. _I'll show her how to actually play the damn thing later_ he decides generously, allowing Shikh to take the lion's share of the thanks ..... -this- time. Shikh_Cthon nods beamingly, then yawns in exaggeration, standing from his seat, "well, enjoy it, Shen..." he mumbles, making a break for it before more technical questions about the gift arise... either from Shen, or from Paul, in an attempt to expose Shikh's infamiliarity with the thing. Impulsively, Shen straightens up, grabs Shikh in a hug, and squeezes him. "Thanks!" Shikh_Cthon huffs as he's unexpectedly tackled and nods, again blushing, and looking anxiously toward Paul. The action doesn't prompt a rise from the older Corellian, who merely peaceably sips at his mug. "Sleep well," Shen says happily to the younger man, before plopping back down to study the drum in detail. Shikh_Cthon grins as Shen goes back to work on the drum, and makes a hasty retreat from the Main Ring, not once looking back to see Paul's face and what hidden threat or smug promise toward him it might reveal. Shen watches Shikh go, consideringly, even as she settles back down with the drum. Once he's out of earshot, she murmurs, "Huh!" Now that the bomb has been dropped, although who got hit with the most shrapnel here is questionable, Paul realizes that with a day spent doing virtually nothing but looking for the perfect present for Shen, he is left with the uncomfortable position of having nothing on his mind -except- said present. To cover for this lack of small talk skills, Paul takes another sip of his coffee, rising slowly with the intent of killing some time in the kitchen to cover for the lapse. "Paul?" At Shen's voice, Paul stills and turns, quirking one eyebrow. "Yeah?" The girl has paused in her exploration of her gift, her gaze lifted, her head quirked slightly. "So tell me somethin'... if this is from Shikh... how come _you_ gave it to me, huh?" There is fleeting moment where Paul feels actually a little guilty, as if telling Shen the truth would be something of a betrayal. However, Shikh brought the situation on himself, and if he didn't spot the obvious flaws in his plan, then he was a fool and deserved whatever he got. "Well," Paul offers in measured tones, "it's kind of a strange story ... you really want to know?" "Well, it just seemed a little weird, you know?" Shen squints at the archaeologist, curious now. "Why, did he tell you not to tell me, or somethin'?" "Oddly enough, no, he didn't tell me not to tell you, though I think his idea of how this was all going to go down was decidedly different than the way it did. More fool him," he mutters to himself thoughtfully, not really understanding -what- Shikh had hoped to accomplish ... if anything. Shenner's head quirks further. "Paul, what the kark are you talkin' about?" This tale isn't going to be a short one ... unless .... Paul answers the question very simply by stating, "He -asked- me to." Shen seems to accept this, though her brow furrows in puzzlement. "Weird," she mutters, running fingertips over the rim of the drum. "I mean... the whole thing is weird... why the kark did he follow me from Etti IV to begin with?" The surprise that jumps through Paul's system doesn't make it to his face, even though he was certain Shen would press for more details. As to why Shikh followed her, well if Shen can't figure out that one, Paul decides that he isn't going to help her down the garden path. He turns once more, heading for the kitchen, this time to dump out the rest of his coffee. It's with a brooding expression that Shenner returns her attention to the drum, now. She smiles a little, but that doesn't dispel the look. "Weird," she mutters again, mostly to herself, as she starts trying to learn the sound and soul of this new gift. The coffee dumped, Paul walks back to Shen, the long day finally taking its toll. Watching her fiddle with the instrument, he offers, "I'll show you what they showed me if you like," in a soft voice, "unless you'd rather find your own style of playing it." Shenner looks up again, smiling once more, a bit more shyly. "Yeah, show me?" she asks, scooting over a little. Settling himself on the couch, his fingers brushing her lightly as he takes the drum from her grasp, Paul holds the drum in his left hand, the stick in his right. Gripping the handle at the back, he tilts the drum so that it is slightly to the left, facing sideways and tilted fractionally upward. The stick is held in a kind of loose fist, thumb and pinky free, the gesture relaxed. He places his right hand over the drum's face and just by swinging his hand in a gentle rocking motion side to side, he brings the heads down to contact the skin. He plays a few patterns, the drum ringing nicely and having a tenor voice with a strong volume range. It doesn't change in tonality unless you move toward the edges, which Paul demonstrates briefly, saying nothing and allowing Shen's eyes to inform her, which is how he learned to play the instrument. He then stops and passes it back to Shen wordlessly. Smiling more widely as she watches, her appreciation of the drum's voice evident, Shen studies the movements of Paul's hands, and when he surrenders the drum, starts practicing the imitation of them. As she'd done with his teaching of guitar, she starts off a little rocky, but it doesn't take her long to get the swing of it. Smothering a yawn, Paul rises, smiling down wryly at her determined hands. "Shikh was right, not surprisingly, looks like you got it," he declares, rubbing at his eyes briefly before turning to head to the captain's quarters, deciding that Shikh's decision to sleep is a worthy perception as well. "Night Shen, don't stay up till dawn playing that thing, eh?" Shenner smiles up at Paul, again. "Okay..." Turning back for a moment to look at her, Paul chuckles, shaking his head. _Shikh was damn lucky I'm such a nice guy_ he muses. Still, it was worth it, seeing Shen entranced with the simple drum. He palms the lock, the door sliding open silently, once again murmuring, "Good night Shen," before he disappears inside. "Good night, Paul!" Tap tap. Tap a tap tap *thump* tap.... [End log.]