Nelyv Etrei

Ensign Nelyv Etrei is a brig officer on the USS Odyssey.
== Background ==
Nelyv’s story begins with her mother Aedea, who was a slave girl in service to a Klingon master on Qo’nos. She did not like her life there; her master was highly abusive and cruel; many times she would suffer grievous injuries and then some as a result of his fits of anger or frustration. Needless to say she sought a means of escape - and that she found eventually in the form of her master’s wife, who released her from service in her husband’s stead while he was asleep one night and gave her a shuttle on which to escape, along with basic piloting instructions of course. 
Well, free though she now was she didn’t quite know what to do with herself. Aedea had little in the way of formal education (apart from what she’d learned from her teacher in typical slave girl arts and manner) and she believed that that by itself wouldn’t earn her a proper livelihood. She didn’t exactly know where to go, either - never mind her lack of knowledge of the wider universe, she didn’t know which planet exactly would be willing to grant her asylum. Well, that is, no planet in Empire space. She knew that as long as she remained within it she would never truly have her freedom. So she set course for Federation space instead… 
...and eventually, by sheer luck and asking around several space stations, found her way to Risa. The Federation’s pleasure planet. At first she was terrified - she thought that she would not be able to afford a place to live or basic necessities to keep herself alive. That was until she found out that, 1. She wouldn’t have to pay anything anyway, and 2. The local Risian social service authorities were more than glad to help her every step of the way. She was moved into a small apartment situated along the shore of beautiful blue Suraya Bay - and from there they were swift to find her employment as a dancer at a local club. It was through this settling-in programme that she would meet Betazoid social worker and her future husband Aadro Edrei. 
Three years into their relationship, their daughter Nelyv was born in a local hospital on Risa. She was a healthy young baby - and very vocal, too. Aedea complained on several occasions that her daughter had the vocal cords of a singer - she cried long, loud and without pause, it seemed. Nelyv was educated at a local school like a normal Risian child - and that was where she learned to give of herself to others and to be generous. She got on well with her peers; cheerful, friendly and with a seemingly insatiable ‘I want to know everything I can about this/you’ attitude, she earned herself quite the reputation even with her teachers. 
Childhood went by in quite the breeze. Teenagehood, however? Er… not quite so easily. Thirteen and onwards is when others kind of start noticing you, she noticed - and that was sort of where the stereotyping began. She noticed that some of her classmates thought that she’d be easy to pick up - especially as they got older. Sometimes they’d give her gifts out of the blue. At one time she had four boys fight over her for the right to take her out to dinner… which didn’t end well, of course.  At times she would be afraid to go to school lest her classmates jump on her in a frenzy. Thankfully that in particular never happened; they were a well-behaved bunch by and large and for that she was immensely grateful. 
It was at about this age that her father began to train her in the use of her empathic powers. They started small of course, but eventually she and her father made steady progress. Learning to separate emotions and thought from the telepathic white noise she received was difficult, especially consider that she had only half the ability as a hybrid. It was through learning how to sense others’ intentions and states of mind that she learned that they never really had any ill intentions - which was good all things considered. Learning to control her weaker pheromones came with her mother’s efforts;  she knew what they could be used for - and she was determined to never let her daughter walk the path of misusing them. 
Upon leaving the Risian equivalent of high school she found employment in the service industry as a masseuse in the resort massage parlour. In the course of her employment she came into contact with plenty of clients, from any and all walks of life, and of all different species. The diversity of her customers simply knocked her off her feet in the figurative sense: human, Andorian, Trill, sometimes Vulcan and others still! The inflow of differing customers seemed to never stop and each day on the job was different. Nelyv became something of an attraction to the parlor; the pretty masseuse with a room-lighting smile and the ability to make striking conversation with anyone she met. No one ever left her presence feeling blue, though the outfit she donned at work was of said color. It was also through her clients that she learned of Starfleet; of course, there was the small embassy located at the tip of Suraya Bay, but she’d never actually been there. Hearing word from the mouths of her Starfleet officer clients, however, was a whole other experience - one she never failed to look forward to. Andor, Vulcan, Rigel IV, Earth and all the wonder of the stars and space in between. She envied them, really. So free and so empowered, like her mother had wanted and gotten. Secretly, she wanted their life, though it was a sentiment she largely kept to herself. 
There comes a time in everyone’s life where they consider leaving the nest, so to speak - and for Nelyv that came at the age of 22. While she was happy in her job she felt that she couldn’t possibly spend all her life working out tense shoulders, could she? Of course not. She wanted even more. It was at that stage when she considered a career with Starfleet. Hadn’t she wanted their life through all the years of her employment? Yeah, she had - and with that her mind was made up. There was a better life awaiting her beyond the pristine beaches, lush green forests and luxurious resorts of Risa and she was going to seize it with both hands! So she bid her parents farewell and packed what belongings she owned at the time - and made for Earth on the next civilian transport. 
Upon reaching Earth she knew that she had to refresh her knowledge in preparation for the entrance exam - and so she took two months to study in preparation for her courses. When she did take the entrance exam, however, she struggled a little - and passed, albeit by the skin of her teeth. But that didn’t matter. Aedea’s little girl was about to start the next, exciting leg of her life and that was all that mattered to her. 
Picking a career path thereafter was a little bit of a strange process. Nelyv still remembered how she’d been treated as a teenager - and, well, occasionally as an adult. So she decided to absolutely, absolutely subvert any expectations others might have had of her - be they her classmates or friends back home. She applied into the security officer’s course, if only to show that she could be just as tough as anyone else. 
To this day Nelyv considers her Academy days to be some of the best of her life. She greatly enjoyed training on the holodeck with her classmates - and kicking the slag out of those who thought her height wouldn’t be good for her in a fight. Her other time was spent socializing and making friends, something she did easily, never mind her Orion heritage. She found it greatly satisfying to realize that her classmates treated her as more of her own person then. Outside of her studies she was keenly interested in sports - she joined the Academy track and field team (though she never actually ran in any competitions), found a place in the Academy squash players’ club and even tried basketball once in her third year. Spoiler: she never made it far playing basketball. Of course. She further joined the Academy’s journalism club and for two years spent time interviewing and writing articles for the institution’s newsletter. Upon graduation she was assigned to the Odyssey - which greatly pleased her. 
== Appearance ==
By human standards Nelyv looks Asian - Japanese, maybe, with a touch of Filipino. She stands at a grand height of 5’4”, not that being short has ever bothered her. She claims that it gives her better access to kneecaps which she can steal or the softer lower parts of the body (which she can kick hard to bring someone down, mind out of the gutter!) and takes very much pride in being small and nimble. One rather not-so-Asian feature about her are her eyes, though: larger than should be expected of someone of her apparent ethnicity, deep black Betazoid pupils, expressive, clear and almond-shaped. She has spent her whole life smiling (both naturally and for customer service, though the latter is very much the former in all aspects) and it shows daily. 
Of course, working on Risa mandates (well, not really, more like obligates) one to maintain appearances, fitness and beauty standards to remain appealing to guests - she spends plenty of time taking care of her appearance, particularly her figure, fitness and skin, and it shows. As a security officer she spends time on the holodeck playing sports to keep herself in shape, squash, badminton and springball most prominent among them. If not found on the holodeck she can be seen jogging around the hallways in standard exercise gear. No, she will not be caught jogging or exercising in anything too revealing, nor will she be found trying to intentionally draw gazes while she does.  
Her hair is normally kept short, shoulder-length at most. Sometimes she will wear a small blue headband for aesthetic purposes, or a blue pin shaped like a Fredalia flower when off duty. As a matter of fact blue is her favorite color; she loves to dress in blue dresses, blue shirts and blue… everything, really (hence her own joke that she never leaves anyone feeling blue. Fun fact: No one  has ever laughed at this joke, but not that she cares.). Baggier shirts and dresses are her usual go-to, though  on occasion she will cheekily show off just a little, especially for someone she considers special to her or at parties. Only sometimes. 
== Personality ==
Contrary to popular belief, surprise, surprise, Nelyv is not a soft damsel in distress or a wily slave girl or a pretty face with no brains behind it, and she will steal your kneecaps if one even attempts to try and assign that stereotype to her. She will happily toss you around in a fight or make you chase her in circles and laugh with mirth as she does - or discuss biology at length if soneobe asks. She took it upon herself as soon as she found out what her mother used to do, to improve on the family line. No one in her family would ever be a slave again. Not now and not ever, not while she lived. 
Does this mean that she has zero inclination towards using what she picked up on Risa, or any of the skills her mother taught her? Well, no. Not exactly. She knows when someone is feeling down (thanks, telepathy!) and actively uses what she learned to make them feel better. Like an Orion slave girl she will make good conversation and give you her undivided, smiley attention, then attempt to lift your mood however she can. Well, sans less savory methods of course. If that fails she will simply wrap her arms around the person in a warm, soft hug and stay there until they feel better (lying to her about feeling better doesn't work either, she knows when someone is down or happy and will only let go when she feels that they feel better). Physical contact is also commonplace for her - her friends, colleagues, professors and former partners know this well. 
Sometimes she forgets that personal space exists. On more than one occasion she has quite literally inched herself uncomfortably close to a complete stranger to listen to them talk - and scared them away, which never fails to make her sad. She always recovers swiftly, though.
== Psych Evaluation ==
All things considered Nelyv is a perfectly normal person. She has never had any particularly traumatic experience that might have an adverse effect on her service - which is good. 
== Other information ==
* Likes: Plants (though she doesn't have green fingers despite having green fingers), chocolate (especially in s'mores!), Fredalia flowers, playing the violin
* Dislikes: Stereotyping, being thought of as 'easy' to pick up for the night (which happens a bit more than she'd like)
Category:Former Characters