Seeking Experience
Posted on Mon Sep 20th, 2010 @ 9:41am by Lieutenant Commander Eliza McAdams & Lieutenant Alessandro Reynaldi
3,453 words; about a 17 minute read
Mission:
Stealth
Location: Messhall, USS Ranger
Timeline: Backpost - day before the date with Dylan.
"I can recommend the canelloni."
The end of shift was always perhaps the worst time to attempt to secure a meal if you were in a hurry but that was exactly why Sehra made a point of never being in a hurry, not so much that the swelling crowd chatting happily amongst itself became an issue. These were perhaps her favourite times of day, when the crew had an opportunity to mingle before heading off in various directions to wind down alone or in much smaller groups. It was justification, at least, for standing in line for food whilst technically still on duty but that was why the Betazoid loved her job; she was meant to socialise. The fact that she'd managed to stand right behind an unfamiliar face sporting more pips on his collar than she'd come to expect of officers in the mess was just icing on the cake and though it was obvious that her counterparts were paying the man deferential courtesy by completely ignoring his presence save from the occasional obligatory greeting, the brunette had been bouncing on the balls of her feet for the last minute as she slyly observed the interactions around her and picked her moment for finally striking up conversation. She cut an impish figure with her hands caught behind her back and her trademark grin plastered across her face but despite the weariness of those around her, Sehra honestly felt that her good mood was entirely justified. Missions rarely involved her but this last one had affected her two closest friends and a fretful morale officer was no good to anyone, least of all herself. Her blue eyes danced as she waited for the Lieutenant to realise the lilting voice from behind was actually addressing him.
Alex had spent the last few hours running diagnostics in Engineering. The crew which had been particularly democratic when he arrived, was now fully intergrated into a radical dictatorship with him at the top. He'd noticed the general change as word began to float around the ship about how strict he was. He started off at the beginning with a few over the top demontrations of his desire for perfection especially embarrasing people by shouting at them in front of everyone when they make stupid mistakes. He'd even gone as far as to slap a PADD of extremely false information out af a crewman's hands and demand he do it again.
He'd done all of these things for the respect and healthy fear he now enjoyed. No one dared talk to him unless they were somewhat close to his rank and really had something to say. This is why it surprised him when a Junior Petty Officer spoke to him, so much so that he suspected she was speaking to someone else for quite a while.
He finaly looked over at her. "Beg your pardon?" He smiled, remembering he didn't have to be a tight ass when he was off duty.
Though the Betazoid's expression didn't falter in the slightest, it wasn't until the man turned to face her properly that she realised who it was she might have finally stumbled upon. Sehra took her job seriously enough, in a completely delighted way, that she made a habit of watching the crew manifest and tended to purposefully seek out new arrivals but the Chief Engineer had arrived at a time where social visits really weren't going to be appropriate. Sehra loved her job but she respected the work of others and knew without question that there was a time and place for socialising and that was rarely smack-bang in the middle of a tense situation. She was rarely idle, however, and though she'd had no opportunity to make Reynaldi's acquaintence yet, she'd had plenty of time to chat with those in his department who were now seriously questioning the wisdom of their career choice, especially those enlisted personnel who were looking longingly towards their secondary choice of departmental placement and wondering just how to go about requesting transfer. She'd listened sympathetically before pointing out that decision made prematurely often resulted in further regret later on. Having played her part in placating his staff, Sehra couldn't deny that she'd been itching to meet the culprit of the dissent ever since she'd first become aware of it. She liked strong personalities. They made life interesting.
Arching her eyebrows expressively as her grin lit up a familiar sparkle in her eyes, the brunette nodded towards one of the preprepared fresh dishes being offered on the buffet and repeated, "The canelloni, you should try it. If you're in the mood for excessive amounts of carbohydrates, that is," she continued, bridging the gap between them to fall into companionable conversation beside the older man. "Not to mention an inordinate amount of cheese but if you ask me, that's entirely the whole point." Glancing upwards, she winked mischievously. "I'm not sure my hips agree though."
Alex glanced quickly at her body, instantly realizing perhaps he shouldnt't have. Not because she'd notice, he was comfortable enough with himself for that, but because others in the room might see. "I don't think it will hurt much...they can take it." He smiled again, his charming hansomness shining through. He grabbed the plate she'd indicated and without anouther word, walked to the nearest empty table.
He sat, taking out a PADD and looking through it.
One part of her job that Sehra enjoyed perhaps more than anything else was the dynamic fluctuations that took place right at the very start of an acquaintence as both parties tested each other and began to form the opinions that would, for better or worse, dictate the nature of any future relationship. She wouldn't have been any sort of student of psychology without having some fondness for analysing behaviour and, in truth, Sehra loved trying to figure people out. More than that, she loved the challenge of figuring out how to handle people without compromising her own integrity. She had just been summarily dismissed whilst, at the same time, being slyly complimented and the moment was so perfect that the brunette actually had to compose herself before grabbing her own plate and turning to follow. Sehra was more mature than people liked to give her credit for, she rarely fell into the trap of being an annoying pest who outstayed their welcome, but perserverence was sometimes key.
Besides, if he thought he was going to get away scot-free with a remark like that....
Setting her plate down on the table, Sehra stood beside the vacant chair opposite the Chief Engineer without making any move to claim it, presumption falling just short of completely imposing herself. Spearing one of the pasta segments with her fork, she popped the morsel into her mouth and chewed it thoughtfully whilst she intentionally allowed a few moments of silence to pass. Having swallowed, she repeated the action but pause with the food halfway to her mouth, grinning down at the engineer as she explained, "This is the part where you invite me to sit because I'm clearly going to ingratiate myself anyway." Her cheekiness dissolved then, picking the crucial moment to display a more casual yet genuine display of proper respect as she laughed and her features relaxed, her eyes warm yet good-naturedly apologetic as they held his gaze. "Actually, I just wanted to make up for not having introduced myself sooner. If I'm intruding, I can take my noodles and go pout in a corner."
Alex had to fight off a smile. Had she just sat down, he would have schooled her rather loudly on proper respect for a senior officer, further advertising the persona he'd put out to the crew since he'd boarded the ship. But she didn't do that.... This was daring. No doubt she'd heard of him so far, and glances from around the room indicated that people were afraid for her. "Sit..." He said evenly.
Two crewmen aproached as quickly as they could. Two Ensigns, one male, one female stood in Engineering gold. "Sir...may we sit too?" The grins on their faces were the sort of fake ones he'd seen alot of lately. They'd wanted approval from his so badly they'd mistaken this opportunity for a time to earn it socially.
Alessandro looked at them, his face nuetral, his gaze empty. After a few seconds, their smiles faded away. After a few more seconds it was clear they were not welcome, so they turned and walked away probably more embarrased then they'd ever been. Alex went back to his PADD, ignoring the food on his plate as much as he was ignoring the woman across from him.
Having watched the exchange mutely, using the awkward moments to slip into the chair and comfortably situate herself, Sehra took small yet purposeful bites out of the long, cylindrical piece of pasta oozing cheese over the prongs of her fork and didn't risk glancing at the presumptuous duo until they had made their retreat, even then only shifting her eyes sideways so that there was no discernable disturbance to her stance. As much as she valued her work, Sehra had always believed that, fundamentally, people had to live life for themselves. The kind of attitude Reynaldi was exhibiting may have been creating discomfort and depression en mass amongst his staff but regardless of what that desire to exude authority said about him, she wasn't there to fight people's battles for them, especially not when they weren't intelligent enough to think before they acted. More to the point, she was no expert on command techniques and if the engineer was dealing with people who so readily jumped at the chance to convey a false sense of esteem, then maybe his approach was merely a wise tactical choice. Sehra had never understood it herself. She respected senior officers because, for the most part, they were experts in their field and, in general, had the kind of experience she was more than happy to observe and learn from. True respect wasn't all this bowing and scraping and insincerity though. You could laugh without impudence.
"I have a question," she ventured after the protracted silence had made it almost seem as if she was content to simply sit and eat. "Well, a request, actually. And I absolutely, positively have only just thought of it, Lieutenant, so this comes with a 100% motive-free guarantee." The Betazoid's expressive face quivered on the verge of mischief again before relaxing. "Petty Officer Vahn, sir," she continued, finally consenting to a more traditional form of introduction. "They let me run around pestering people under the guise of morale intervention."
He finished the line he was on as he was reading, not wanting to loose his place, then glanced slightly above the padd, before he sat it down on the table and folded his hands in front of him. "Lieutenant Alessandro Reynaldi...It's nice to meet you." He gave a hint of the charming smile again, then it faded slightly. "You have a question?" he had a feeling it was about his command technique. This wouldn't be the first time he'd been through this...He'd been a department head now in two different department areas, and he'd served as Executive officer on the verge of promotion to full Commander....
"I noticed your arrival," Sehra commented warmly, an aside to suggest that she knew who he was without making it seem like she thought his introduction was unnecessary. "Usually I would have introduced myself sooner but, well, things were a little hectic." She grinned. "Despite appearances, I do try to stay out of people's way." Setting her cutlery aside, the brunette then folded her arms across the edge of the table, settling into a position that was comfortable without being overly familiar. "And it really is more of a request than a question. As much as I love working as a morale officer, it's something of a professional cul-de-sac. StarFleet Medical approved field training several weeks ago buuut," she continued with exaggerated emphasis to match her twitching lips, "they hit me with some of the compulsory officer training well before I expected it. Lieutenant Carter is handling the psychological component of my tuition, I was hoping to arm wrestle another senior officer into handling the actual StarFleet side of things ,and since there is an engineering component..."
Sehra had no idea where the compulsion had sprung from. The situation was exactly as she had described it but she had made no progress in deciding who to approach, had assumed she would just ask Dylan and hope that the pair of them could concentrate enough for her to actually make any progress but whilst the prospect of working alongside a friend was tempting, Sehra also knew that it probably wouldn't produce her best work. Mingling business with pleasure might have been a current luxury but the Betazoid was ambitious, more than people realised, and this next step was going to be treated seriously. Maybe she was being masochistic, asking perhaps the most distrusted and disliked senior officer to handle her training, or maybe she just couldn't resist the urge to see for herself exactly what he was like, but this felt... More than anything, her intuition told her that she would learn from this guy. Being out of her comfort zone wasn't actually something Sehra abhorred. At some point, you had to shake things up a little.
Alex was surprised to say the least. His command style produced some of the best results becuase they encuraged those who worked under him to do their best work. He won several awards in the fleet for the books he'd written on the subject. First came fear, and then exceptance that this was the way it was...then he could joke and smile. The last thing he expected at such an early stage in his stay here was for someone to actually desire to be around him who wasn't brown nosing...especially if they weren't senior staff.
He looked at Sehra for quite a long time as he thought. "Uhm...sure." He muttered in an uncharicteristically unsure sort of way. "I'll have to warn you, as most of my staff will...It won't be easy....and you may not care for me too much until the end." He concluded, moving his fork around on his plate but not eating anything.
"I heard."
Nobody had ever been able to effectively explain how Sehra got away with half of what she did or said but then those same people were at a loss to explain what it was about the girl that screamed vivacious excitement whilst at the same time maintaining a core integrity that was unshakeable. For her age, the Betazoid was incredibly grounded, sure of herself without the need for arrogance and genuinely keen to embrace life in a fullfilling way that would actually open up doors and provide for future opportunity. Even though the decision to ask the Lieutenant had been completely spur of the moment, his analysis of his technique only served to convince Sehra that it was a sound idea and the twinkle in her eye as she regarded him before continuing conveyed, without an abundance of familiarity, that she was not coming into this request unarmed in terms of information. Again her lips twitched with unrealised mirth but she controlled it instead in favour of earnesty, something that reflected keenly in her eyes once the momentary tease had passed.
"Military psychology takes up whole sections of textbooks and is, in some respects, the most complicated field to try and establish yourself in, sir. I enlisted as a way to test the waters, and myself, since I don't believe in wasting time on things that I'm not suited for." For the first time, the petty officer's brow creased with thoughtful consideration and, in doing so, her expression sobered into seriousness for a rare moment. "Morale has been fun and rewarding but it's time to get serious. I've got a feel for StarFleet since I left home, something more than I actually expected and I just don't think...."
The Betazoid paused thoughtfully. "I want to be a Counsellor. I want to be a Counsellor to soldiers. To people who devote their lives to exploration and diplomacy and, when the occasion calls for it, defense. StarFleet requires that I become an officer myself in order to do that and I have a feeling, just as I didn't expect the military angle to make such an impact on my enlisted time served, that the officer side of things is going to catch me unawares if I'm not careful." Blue eyes met the Lieutenant's resolutely. "I'd rather it kicked the living hell out of me now, sir. From all reports, you're quite capable of helping it do that." Suddenly, the grin was back. "Makes you a logical choice, I think."
Alessandro nodded, running a hand through his prematurely graying hair. He'd never understood why women found it attractive on him...perhaps it was more the muscles and the Italian accent that atracted them. "What did you have in mind? Engineering training? Tactical or Security?" He said, his accent flowing like a cool brease on a hot day. He had a very powerful voice, and when it wasn't being projected in your face, most called it soothing.
He was very glad there were people who trusted his abilities so far. He'd proved a point with department decipline. It's now well accepted that if you make the entire department run two laps around the deck at the end of their ship because one person is late, you build group responsibility and even a sense of teamwork...because being late not only means getting dirty..it means being shuned by the Engineering staff as well. His department would become a cohesive and effective team united...even if they're united against him. Whatever she took her lessons on, he knew that she should not do it without a teamate or two. "And is there anyone else interested in training with you?"
Having completely ignored her food until then, Sehra picked up her fork and began poking at the canellini again as she gave his question thoughtful consideration. Given the impromptu nature of her request, the telepath hadn't actually been prepared for the task of approaching a senior officer and that meant she hadn't even given thought to what the prerequisites might be. Teamwork was an integral part of StarFleet life, though, it made sense that part of the training would involve working with others.
"I'm not sure," she eventually admitted, chewing on a piece of pasta before she continued. "If there are others attempting officer training, I don't know who they are yet. Will it be a problem if there aren't?" Her eyes fixed on his keenly, pragmatic yet, as always, eternally optimistic. "I mean, do they have to be undertaking the training themselves or can I bribe anyone?"
"It's too much for one person. Teamwork is important for every officer to learn. I'm also not going to be very 'nice'," he said the word with obvious contempt. "so I'd really suggest you find someone to hate me with soon. I don't care who, I don't care how." He finished suddenly. He wasn't going to hold her hand through this and he felt it was not his job to find help for her. "I teach, you learn...you don't learn, I help once...you don't learn after that, you fail. That's how I evaluate. If the people you find don't pass my tests and are holding you back, then you will have to work together to improve....cause I grade in groups."
The faintest glimmer of uncertainty flared amidst Sehra's far more practical mindset before she purposefully extinguished it. She didn't want it easy, that was the point. It was true that she also didn't want unfairness but she would have to trust, for now, that the Lieutenant had the balance figured out. Smiling her understanding, the petty officer sat in thoughtful reflection for a moment before her features relaxed further and she grinned, jabbing her fork into a slice of pasta with gusto. "I guess," she retorted, bringing the food to her lips, "that I'd better make it a good bribe then. You really should try this," she added, indicating his barely touched plate with a grin. "You may need all the strength you can get."
Death warrant signed brought to you by:
Lieutenant Alessandro Reynaldi
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Ranger
and
Petty Officer Sehra Vahn (PNCP McAdams)
Morale Officer
USS Ranger
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