Greeting to fellow Ensign

Posted on Thu Feb 12th, 2009 @ 8:24am by Lieutenant JG Lucy Carter

1,642 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Citadel Prime
Timeline: Evening Before Teparture

OOC: Sorry for the backpost, but this one's been in the works for a while.

Ensign Carter returned to her quarters that evening pleased that it had been a full but nerve-wracking day. She had been summoned to Lane's ready room where she had found a very engaging man but one who bore the outward signs of fatigue. Her encounter with Arkham was different. The LCDR had found her in sickbay about to activate the EMH to become acquainted. The woman had been pleasant but abrupt and at great pains to point out to Carter that she must not be disappointed.

Carter let the doors slide shut behind her and rubbed her eyes. She went to her bathroom mirror and had a look at her face. Her dark blonde hair hung straight, highlighting her cheekbones and stopping at her chin. Her green eyes were tired but still had sparkle. "No signs of space sickness yet" she said to herself and went to sit down.

She felt in the mood for Mozart and said "Computer. Play the Queen of the Night Aria, please". Carter closed her eyes and listened, a smile creeping over her face when she realised which of the ship's crew had prompted this choice of music. The high F was sung with particular venom and Carter was absorbed.

Abruptly, she opened her eyes. She had been neglecting her duties! She had failed to become acquainted with her fellow Ensign on board - Kevin Larkin. She had already read some background on the Ensign and had to admit she found his history intriguing.

She tapped her combadge "Ensign Carter to Ensign Larkin"

The voice coming from his communicator shook Larkin awake. For a moment he was unsure of where he was, but a quick survey of his surroundings told him that he'd fallen asleep sitting at a table in the Botany Lab. He'd spent the day running experiments, and found, much to his chagrin, that his latest attempt at creating a coffee-tea plant hybrid had been just as unsuccessful as the first four. It took him a few moments to realize what the noise that had woken him was. "Uhh, yes, Larkin here. What can I do for you?" He'd been too groggy to catch Carter's name.

"I am the ship's counsellor and should like to make your acquaintance. Could we meet?"

Kevin was still not entirely awake, and had to force himself to think about what was happening. Glancing over at the ship's chronometer, he saw that he'd worked/slept through dinner. "Actually, I was just thinking about heading over to the mess hall to get something to eat." He lied through his teeth. "Would you care to join me?"

Carter smiled at this invitation. She sensed that the Ensign was being polite but still, a face to face meeting over a ground as common as food might be a good starting point. "Yes, Ensign Larkin" she replied "that would be lovely. I shall meet you there in 15 minutes".

Larkin stood from the table, and mumbled to himself as he rubbed the last bit of sleep from his eyes. "Two birds with one stone...starting to become a theme around here."

Carter scanned the other Ensign's records. She frowned. Strange background - unexplained happenings on board his previous vessel but still, a brilliant scientist. He should have a keen mind and make for fascinating conversation. Carter rose from her seat and glimpsed the stain on the carpet from earlier. "Blast" she exclaimed. She had forgotten to clean it up and now it would be harder to remove than before. But she had arranged to meet Larkin and so had no time for household duties now. She made a mental note to clean it before she went to bed that night.

She made her way to the mess hall, excited that she would be meeting a new member of the crew and wondered what the menu had to offer.

Deciding to wait for Ensign Carter in the mess hall, Larkin made his way there and found as quiet a table as possible. He liked quiet environments; they were much more conducive for thought than any of their counterparts. He decided to wait until Carter arrived to order food. He couldn't remember who it was, but he thought that someone had once told him that was the polite thing to do.

While Kevin waited, he took out a PADD, and looked over the reports of the day's work. He was pleased. It looked like they had managed to get most of the essential equipment up and running, and he was much more confident that they'd be ready for the ship's launch then he had been at the start of the day. It wasn't very long before his companion arrived.

Carter entered the mess hall and looked around for Larkin. She saw him almost immediately, sitting on his own at a table that looked like it was as far away from the other people in the room as possible. Carter went over to the other Ensign and smiled well before he looked up at her.

"Hello, Ensign Larkin, I am Ensign Carter. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance."

Larkin jumped awkwardly to his feet, and extended his hand to greet Ensign Carter. "Hi, likewise, I'm sure." Larkin always felt a little strange upon meeting new people. He always found himself saying short little phrases that frequently came off as a lack of interest in the other person. This wasn't really what he was thinking, he just never really knew what to say.

Carter took a seat opposite the Ensign and noticed him looking at his PADD. "I see I have disturbed your work... I am sorry. Have you already eaten?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, I haven't ordered, I was waiting for you..." Now he was confused. He'd thought that waiting was the polite thing to do, but she'd ended up interpreting that as though she was an inconvenience to him. That couldn't have been farther from his intent. "And I wasn't really working. I was just biding time till you arrived."

Carter rose and said "I tell you what, I'll get some stew for both of us, shall I? I for one am starving and with a mission coming up, I am not sure when we get the time to relax again!"

She went to the counter and ordered two meals, returning a few minutes afterwards. She placed Larkin's meal in front of him. "There you are. You must be hungry after your day. Do you know the first thing I did after reporting? I spilled tea all over the carpet in my quarters! Not a great start."

While Carter had been away, Larkin had intentionally placed the PADD upside down and a good distance away from him. He didn't think that she'd noticed. "No, that doesn't sound like the best way to start off. On the bright side, though, the replicators can produce about a hundred different kinds of carpet cleaner." He paused. "Or worst case scenario, I suppose, a new carpet."

"Well that's good news, I suppose." Carter replied, pleased that Larkin was joining in with the conversation at last. She put a forkful of the stew into her mouth. Not bad - she thought - not bad for ship's rations. Given her background, Carter was always grateful for any sort of food and rarely refused any.

Kevin couldn't help but wonder just how much Ensign Carter knew about him. If there was anyone on the crew who'd have access to his complete file outside of the CO and XO it was probably the ship's counselor, but he wanted to avoid the crew finding out about the Dragoon for as long as possible. It had been virtually impossible for him to make many friends on Starbase 87, once word had gotten around the station, and it was already difficult for the CSO to make friends without a halo of suspicion about him.

"Well, Ensign, my name is Lucy. I hope we can become friends. I know it's not always easy when you are on board a ship but I think Ensigns should stick together. What do you reckon?" She noticed that he had not tried his food yet, so continued. "Have a try of the stew. It's really rather good."

"Um... I'm actually not really an Ensign anymore. Commander Lane promoted me to Lieutenant Junior Grade a few hours ago." Larkin absentmindedly tried to point to the new rank insignia on his neck with the hand that contained the spoon that he'd just filled with stew, causing it to spill onto his uniform. After quickly grabbing a napkin, he continued. "But, I mean that's no reason we can't be friends, anyway, right? Oh, and my first name is Kevin, by the way." Larkin was beginning to fall into step with the conversation, but that still didn't change the fact that he was a very awkward man.

"Well, Kevin," she continued, "between my appalling tea stability skills and your stew dropping, we make a fine pair I reckon!" She smiled at him, her cheekbones suddenly highlighted and light dancing off her eyes. She finished her stew. "Well, that's me finished" she said, placing her cutlery neatly on her plate. "I'll have to head back to my office soon, but I must say, it's been a pleasure meeting you."

"It was a pleasure to meet you as well. I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to speak again in the future." Larkin stood and bade the Ensign a warm goodbye. 'She was nice,' he thought to himself, as he finished the stew. 'Kind of cute too, not that she'd probably ever look at me twice...' He finished his meal, and decided to squeeze in a few hours of reading before bed.

 

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