Idle Gossip

Posted on Mon Dec 14th, 2009 @ 9:52am by Lieutenant Commander Eliza McAdams & Lieutenant Commander Kaylis Kirana

1,591 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Shoreleave - Welcoming Old Friends and New
Location: Lounge
Timeline: Several days ago, directly after Kate's promotion

Shalie walked though the door of the lounge and took a quick glance around. She wanted to be anywhere with other people...granted talking to random people wasn't on her agenda but should she come across someone she was familiar with she might stop by for a chat. As she was moving to the bar she let down what little defenses she had to the emotions of those around her, letting them drown out her own.

Easily getting the attention of the bar tender she ordered a simple mixed drink and turn to face the partially full room. She spotted a familiar face, it wasn't someone she had gotten to know very well but she seemed as good a candidate as any. She approached Lieutenant Martin, "Evening Lieutenant....mind if I join you?"

Having been left to her own devices by Kerr, Kate had not moved perhaps as quickly as she might normally have to leave the lounge, a social setting that typically would have been far too awkward for her to manage on her own. Sitting alone tended to attract attention and the few times she had ventured out to enjoy a change of scenery whilst reading through reports had resulted in rather embarrassing situations or, at the very least, a string of failed conversations. The Daedalus's lounge had been considerably bigger too and often more crowded but even the Archimedes' more intimate arrangement wouldn't normally have tempted the security officer if she hadn't allowed herself to become distracted. Thoughts of home ought to have brought relief from her concern but something was nagging her and now that she'd come to piece certain things together, she was arriving at a conclusion she wasn't altogether sure she was happy with.

Not to mention she still hadn't absorbed the fact that Kerr wasn't about to do the seemingly impossible. Circumvent StarFleet's attempts to clip her wings by promoting her not just in position but rank. He made it sound easy but Kate knew the system well enough to realise that the Captain had just created a headache for himself on her behalf. It was...staggering.

Shalie's arrival, therefore, was met with rather distracted surprise at first as Kate gazed blankly at her and took a few seconds to return to the moment enough to realise what was going on. Then, her eyelashes fluttering with startled abashment, Kate's mouth fell open somewhat and her lips moved soundlessly through several half-formed words before she finally forced her voice out. "Uh...sure." It was, without doubt, the most unappealing, unenthusiastic response anyone had ever given to any request in any social situation throughout at least the last decade and yet Kate hadn't meant to sound so unintelligible. The reality was, she never did, and yet this already had a familiar feel to it that would leave her beating herself up for days afterwards.

Shalie had an amused grin on her face as she took a seat across from Martin. "I don't mean to be intruding if you are deep in thought" She said with a chuckled as she took a draw off her drink.

"Oh, no, no." Though that's exactly what she had been, Kate floundered as she attempted to make up for lost attention. Reaching out for her half finished drink, her fingers toying with the mug's handle, the security officer attempted a far warmer smile and added, "Nothing that can't wait anyway.:"

Shalie smiled over at Martin. She had spoken to her on only a few occasions and both had been a little stressful to say the least. She knew nothing about her and it made the idea of small talk a little difficult. No knowing where to start she ask, "So anything exciting happen while you were on shore leave?"

Kate's mind churned over the rush of memories the question evoked. Ryan's half of the task, meeting the diplomat, running herself in circles trying to complete departmental paperwork whilst everyone else was off having fun... Being promoted against all odds. In all honest, the security officer was hard-pressed to remember a shoreleave that had contained more distractions, though it had yet to outdo the one that had changed her life in ways she would have preferred to avoid completely.

"Not really," she replied, the weariness in her tone suggesting the response wasn't quite accurate but that the brunette couldn't bring herself to consider anything that had happened to be much more than par for the course these days. She smiled wanely. "Well, I just got promoted, if that counts."

"Promotions are good." Shalie said as she raised her drink to her lips. With a satisfied 'ahh' she set it on the table. "Well they are good if you want them...sometime the title isn't worth the paperwork."

Shalie glanced around the room at the varied group of people that were populating the lounge. "Are ships really so small that a lounge is the only place to unwind?" She posed, not sure if the questions really required an answer.

"Well the Nova isn't a big ship and what space she has tends to be allocated to primary functions." Kate probably sounded like a bore but she latched onto the far safer topic eagerly. "The trade-off is that we're not exactly designed for deep space missions so it should never be too long in between port calls." An uncomfortable pause followed as the security officer floundered for something else to say and then she asked, a little awkwardly, "Was your shoreleave not that exciting either then?"

Shalie laughed to herself slightly as she finished the remainder of her drink. "Well no, exciting is not the word I would use...but it was interesting I guess. " She looked around the bar. It was good to see that someone else exsisted that was just as bad at the generic small talk as she was. "So...and feel free to tell me to buzz off....but why is it that two single officers are sharing single room? I never see you and Warner together...not that I am spying or anything."

Crap. Well, it was always likely that the crew would ask, especially on a ship this size. Kate had already realised that they were going to attract attention and, with it, a lot of questions but she'd kind of hoped that she wouldn't be the one being asked directly, at least not until the scuttlebutt had done some of the work for her. Unable to meet the Orion's eyes for longer than a few seconds, Kate slowly turned the empty mug in front of her around in slow circles as she tried to pick her way through a careful explanation. "It's....part of our reassignment conditions. We, uh..."

Hells, how did you explain it? How did you explain that you delved a little too far into local affairs and got yourself signed up for some ridiculous behavioural experiment that stuck you living with someone who couldn't stand you? It sounded ludicrous and was certainly not something that was likely to inspire the crew into believe Kerr had made a wise decision just a few minutes ago. "We've agreed to take part in a study." Kate was actually quite proud of that, it almost sounded like they'd had a choice. "Every so often we get issued with a task to do together and we're supposed to report back on how we feel about it."

"Well, I guess that is as much of a reason as any." Shalie said with a laugh. She motioned for another drink. "Well, I can tell that was an uncomfortable topic, so let's see what stupid question I can ask now..." She finished off the remaining bit of her drink as if she would will for there to be more. "Keep my losing streak going."

Kate's half-smile was the closest thing she'd managed to a relaxed reaction so far but it was a start. Predictably, as with most things, not knowing what other people's reactions would be and therefore being left to imagine them for herself had created more tension for Kate than simply announcing her situation to the universe and being done with it. Even her vague outline had been a dreadfully uncomfortable thing to reveal but, somehow, now that the Orion hadn't shown an over-abundance of surprise, Kate found herself breathing a silent sigh of relief. As far as she could tell, the situation was about as ridiculous as any could get and she found herself naturally expecting that everyone would find it either stupid or laughable. She wasn't quite sure how to take Shalie's calm acceptance but, for now, she'd just be grateful for it.

"Better a stupid question than none at all," the security officer replied, reflecting on her own short-comings for only a second before heaving a tired sigh that was, this time, more than audible. "And it's not an unreasonable one, I just expected the scuttlebutt to have invented its own reason by now."

"I tend to ignore scuttlebutt...standard operating procedure." Shalie said with a bit of a joking tone. She couldn't help but feel a little tired about all the excitement today. "It is rarely ever right."

Out of her depths though she was, Kate had to smile wryly. "Or sometimes," she observed, "it's just a little too accurate for comfort."

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Mega-super-backpost brought to you by:

The departed Shalie Montgomery
Chief Operations Officer

and

Lt. Kate Martin
Chief Security Officer
USS Archimedes

 

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