Nature and Nurture - [Risa, Sunrises]

[allmhadadh]

It wasn't particularly pleasant to spend your first moments of the morning worshipping a toilet.

It was even less pleasant when you knew that you wouldn't even be able to stomach a proper cup of coffee, and still had to go to work.

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[amplenacelles]

Scotty screwed up his face and rolled his eyes as he started walking. "Och, lad!" Scotty announced cheerfully, "We're on Riza'. A man can' git anythin' 'ere."

If the planet noticed his taunt, it was far to inanimate to do anything about it.

The sun was shinning down brightly and Scotty was regretting his choice in clothing by the time they'd made it back to the main boulevard. The candy colored buildings stretched on fairly indefinitely and Scotty eyed them with the distaste only a pale white man trapped in heavy sunlight could manage. The first little dozy looking cafe (well, with Standard on the sign) was, therefore, the ideal location to share a cup of tea. Whether or not they actually carried the stuff was a moot point, it would have to be replicated no matter where they went, but it was the closest and that made all the difference.

[allmhadadh]

He was feeling some warmer, though admittedly a little dizzier as well; he was also smart enough not to go pushing himself to passing out. At least, not unless there was a really damn good reason for it, and this wasn't it; he kept his pace reasonable.

He eyed the architecture as well -- preferred the docks, far and away -- but he was along for the walk. The cafe looked decent, and he picked a seat well to the back, as far as he could get away from the other people drifting in and out, once they picked up and paid for tea at the bar.

Well, at least the smell didn't send his stomach into revolt -- crisp and clean and light. He closed his eyes, holding the mug two-handed and near his chest, breathing the steam for a moment. Still going over how he wanted to respond to what the other Scotty had said. He didn't want to... there was little to be gained from any thoughtless answers. He wasn't even sure if there was something to gain from a thoughtful one, but he was sure that this man deserved it; one good turn for another.

[amplenacelles]

Scotty slid into the seat opposite the young Scott and took a long drink off his tea, momentarily unaware of it's extreme temperature. As he pulled the glass away and swallowed, moderately painfully, he made a tight face.

"Who programs these thing's ta' be hot as' tha' sun?" Scotty muttered as he took a deep breath through his teeth. Even though he'd been burned, the flavor of the tea still managed to make him feel better.

Idly, he watched as the Cafe slowly filled--junior officers from the Science Department, several Command track gold-shirts, a couple of Communications Officers, a Yeoman with an alien who's species he didn't recognize. Apparently this was the fleet building of choice.

"Must be tha' standard," Scotty commented quietly, to himself, as he took a sip of his considerably cooler tea.

[allmhadadh]

"It's nae so much keepin' ship with ye." Right out of nowhere. Social, casual conversation was a fine art, and this particular variation of Montgomery Edward Scott had never been good at it. "It's... that formula, aye? Handed t' ye, but it dinna do anythin' except cheat ye o' somethin' good, somethin' that ye shoulda had the right t' earn yerself. Ye dinna ask t' have it dropped on ye. An' for all the good it might o' done, ye have t' live with the consequences of it.

"An' I dinna ken who ye were, until..." He paused, obviously frustrated that even all the careful thought he'd put into this wasn't making it easier for him to explain. "...until I'd already decided that I dinna want t' just... just be that. Nae the only reason, mind. But whatever ye've got in yer head sayin' that it's just because ye exist, that's nae it

[amplenacelles]

Scotty looked up at the young Scott with even interest as he started to speak. He'd not particularly been expecting the lad to suddenly continue their conversation, and he was just a bit startled by it. As he spoke though, Scotty paid close, even attention to his words. When he'd finished, looking uncomfortable and more than a bit put out, Scotty set his mug down on the table took a deep breath.

"At tha' go, when I was first thinkin' about tha' equation," Scotty started, "I thought I was cheated. Cheated by tha' brilliant piece a' bumf." He paused and looked down at the moderate reflection in the tabletop.

"But, around tha' time I came ta' see tha' I was a person, nae jus' a name, I realized tha' it wasnnae my greatest achievement." He looked back up at the young Scott. "I can' build on wha' he did, an be my own, earn my own

[allmhadadh]

He went to respond to that, but then another question crossed his mind. And he tipped his head to the side slightly, mostly forgotten tea set aside.

No, he wasn't prone to asking easy questions, when he asked them at all: "So, what is it, so far? Yer greatest." And he really wanted to know, too; it was genuine interest, not a challenge. A bit of a burning question. No clue why he found it important, but sometimes instincts ruled.

[amplenacelles]

Scotty laughed and ran his hand back through his short hair. Unfortunately the motion didn't cover the mild, embarrassed flush that crept across his face.

"Aye, s'not what yer' wantin' tae hear," Scotty professed with a forced frown and took a quick drink of his tea. As he lowered the cup just slightly, unconsciously trying to hide behind it just a little, he answered.

"When I graduated, fit full honors, I got's some lit'le gold..." He motioned, with his free hand, to indicate a small pin or ribbon affixed to his chest, "bobbins. Shiny an' ugly as sin."

The nostalgic smile that crept across his face pulled from somewhere too deep to be conscious, "Me' Da' an' Mum agreed, for the first time I can' remember an it was' tha' I looked good in 'me colors, an' right deserved every one."

He took another quick sip and tried to force the smile off his face, "A' course, I'm hopin' tae' do better--I'm alsa' hopin' I've got yonks tae' do it in."

[allmhadadh]

There could be no completely hiding the sad little look as he listened. Not nostalgic. Not disparaging, either; never that. But sad, though he again picked up his tea and tried to hide it by staring into the cup as he listened. "What were they like, here?"

[amplenacelles]

"Mum an' Da?" Scotty prompted and watched the subtle fall of the young Scott's shoulders. He had no idea what this lad's life was like, nor even the other, older Scott's

[allmhadadh]

He didn't pick his head up from his tea, though he was very clearly listening to every word. Even though there was just as much tension that suggested he wanted to bolt at every single word, too. Regardless, he managed to stay put

[amplenacelles]

There was silence for a long moment and Scotty blinked. He'd absorbed all the information, but he couldn't manage to wrap his head around that last part. His voice was lighter and a little disbelieving as he spoke.

"Yae...ya' have a sister?" Scotty asked quietly, his tea forgotten.

[allmhadadh]

He blinked, picking his head up with his eyebrows furrowed. "Aye... ye dinna 'ave a sister?"

[amplenacelles]

Scotty blinked at him, his expression blank and tinged with confusion. His eyes darted to the wall behind the young Scott and a tightness pulled as his eyes and mouth briefly. It was the same expression he often wore while contemplating the best way to save the ship, or the parts they'd have to jettison to prevent it from exploding.

After several seconds, he picked up his tea and shook his head. "Nae," he said and pushed his thoughts back as he focused his attention in the here and now, "Nae I dunnae have a sister."

He looked at the younger Scott and his eyebrows pulled up toward his hairline. "Did ya' know yer's well?"

[allmhadadh]

He watched the other Scott go off to that more distant look for a moment, trying to gauge if he'd accidentally gone and stepped over a line he shouldn't have. But it didn't seem so much unsettled as thoughtful.

The returned question was a bit harder to answer, even if he'd been more on the asking side of this conversation than the answering side of it, and probably owed it. He took another sip of tea, trying to figure out how to word that, then gave it a shot. "Clara Alice Stuart... named fer a pair o' my father's great-aunts. Callie. She was born when I was nae quite six, but almost, an'... I guess I knew her and didna at the same time, if that makes sense." He couldn't explain really, what that meant.

He wasn't typically prone to nostalgia, but it was kind of hard not to really notice all of your regrets when you're sitting well outside of your life, and convinced like someone who lives by moments only can be that you'll never see it again

[amplenacelles]

Scotty listened with rapt attention and, by the end of it, a pseudo-smile had crept into his confusion. He debated about poking fun at the lad--telling him that he was apt to start missing her if he went on--but he dismissed the idea, choosing instead to nod and take a sip of his tea.

Well, he would have, had the cup not come up empty and left him a little startled. With an explosive, voiceless laugh, he set it down on the table and pushed it clear of himself. Now, without something, Scotty leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, casually, across his chest.

"Aye," Scotty agreed to nothing in particular. There was very little he could say here, very little that wouldn't be inadvertently cruel, despite how much he wanted to say. After a beat, he broke the silence and changed the subject.

"Were ya' lookin' forward ta' Command?" Scotty asked, honestly interested. It was an important difference--one of a few, apparently, and Scotty was notably interested.

[allmhadadh]

Silence was something he always appreciated; words were overrated, and could be the worst blade in the universe. And the more well-intentioned, the sharper they could be, if they were thoughtless or careless -- better nothing, if not the right ones.

The simple 'Aye' made him breathe out a sigh of relief he hadn't even known he was holding, and he practically uncoiled on the table, not really making eye-contact. Just resting his head sideways on his bent elbow, on the table; a very... childish pose he wasn't quite aware was. Not in a bad way, just a funny thing from someone so hell bent on being all grown up. "Nae. Nae in th' least. Mum didna want me t' go inta Starfleet at all; she was livid when I said I was gonna. None of 'em did. But after she realized I wasna gonna give that up, she started pushin' me t' at least go inta Command. She never thought much o' Engineering."