Excuse the Mess

Posted on 25 Jul 2014 @ 4:11pm by Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones

1,424 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo :: Deck 7, Chief Engineer's Office
Timeline: MD 06 :: 1100 Hours

ON

The day couldn't have gone any worse, really. If what Stace had mentioned was true, the tribbles, as they currently stood, were only the tip of what could potentially be a much bigger iceberg. He could have sworn the plan he set up was going to stave off the infestation. No plan was flawless - that much he would happily admit to - but it seemed the tribbles themselves weren't going to let up. At this rate, it would have taken more than a bait trap to catch them all.

"Maybe if I had a vacuum of some sort..." Musing the thought to himself, Asahi nudged one of the little fuzzy locusts sitting on his desk. It was sad that he had become accustomed to them. "... Sorry little guy... I don't really wanna kill you. If I could, I'd send you right back to my parents and the circus, but I don't think Earth's ready for a tribble invasion..."

Engineering was much smaller than what Grayson had anticipated, he was beginning to get the theme for the ship... much smaller on the inside than the outside. Placing his bag in a tucked away corner of Main Engineering he began his short scenic tour towards the Chief's officer to report in.

Noticing the tribbles around, Grayson knew he was in for 'one of those days' before it had even begun. He gave a small cough to clear his throat and subtly announce someone was around. "Excuse me? Chief?" He waited to see if the man infront of him would turn around. After the morning he had had so far, Grayson wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't the man he was looking for. He just hoped it wasn't someone else who wanted to play mind games with him. "Ensign Grayson Jones reporting in. Your new Assistant Chief Engineering Officer."

"Chief?" Asahi was still getting used to the whole 'being in charge' thing. It was different when he still thought Lieutenant Peers was going to take over. The structure of the department was still relatively similar, but he hadn't wanted to touch anything just to have the Trill come back and change everything back. Now that it was his department, he was almost paralyzed for what to do.

Which did, unfortunately include the introductions. "Oh. Jones." Standing up, Asahi snagged the tribble in his left hand, gesturing with his right to the empty seat in front of him. "Hope your trip's gone well. We don't have a lot of time for pleasantries. I actually have a meeting set up in half an hour with the rest of the department, so we can hop right over to Main Engineering after this. But, it's nice to finally meet you." He hesitated for a short beat. "We haven't had a proper Assistant Chief in what seems like months now. It'll be good to be able to get things finally settled in with a full staff."

Grayson couldn't help but notice his new boss was attractive...it was a running theme for the ship he guessed. Someone in Starfleet personnel playing some matchmaking game or something. "Trip has been going well, and I prefer to get straight into things." He honestly tried to make that sound less of a chat up line, he honestly did. "A bit of a tribble infestation will be high on the list of priorities I guess?"

If Asahi had any awareness of any of Grayson's thought process, he probably would have redirected the whole conversation to spanners and tried very hard not to think of attractiveness or matchmaking. It was good he wasn't telepathic, or that would have ended awfully. "Good. It wouldn't be high on my priorities, what with the Cardassian mine we have to go investigate and poke at, but this is kind of... in our faces right now. Say... here's a question, kind of a switch in gears, so to speak. Thoughts on Cardassians?"

Having never been asked a question like that before, Grayson took a moment to ponder the best way to word it. "Like any species I guess. Mostly good people from my limited experiences, with a few at the top with issues who sadly go on to paint the picture of a nation." It was true, while he travelled with his father, he got to meet some Cardassians. Generally he found those he met to be very nice, caring and interested in the ramblings of a 7 year old. He remembered playing with some of their children, their toys and sharing a dinner table with them on occasion. He knew it was not all like that and appreciated that people would have vastly differing opinions than his own.

Asahi nearly felt like hugging the man in front of him. With all the differing opinions on Cardassians on the ship, most of them negative, such a fresh-faced opinion was almost like a parting of the clouds into the clear sky. There were others on the ship who felt similarly, but it seemed like there were mostly anti-Cardassian racists nearly every corner of the vessel.

Having his assistant of such a clear-headed mind made Asahi breathe easy. "Good to hear. It shouldn't be a question I have to ask on a Federation ship, but it's come up enough for me to be a little curious. Hm. What do you have experience with, if you don't mind me asking? Big ships, little ships... shipyards... what?"

"A few big ships, I've worked on some Sovereign Classes and a Nebula Class out of the academy. A few missions here and there took me to smaller ships," He had to think for a second the exact types, "Intrepid, Saber and an old Streamrunner. One summer I was lucky to get to work at Utopia Planitia because of my interest in starship design. I was mainly responsible for working on the shuttles and workbees though rather than doing some actual designing." He slicked back part of his hair that fell forward. Grayson tried very hard not to do his usual and blow it back up.

"You've got some experience then. Good." Asahi nodded, finally taking a moment to pull up the Ensign's file. "... Looks like you have a clean slate on your record too. I like that. Gotta admit, I wasn't sure what I was expecting when you were assigned to the Galileo. Usually, they send the types who can deal with uncanny scientists and who knows what sort of messes to the Nova class ships, which usually translates into 'old and grumpy.' So don't take it the wrong way, I don't see you as a pushover either. I just mean you seem much more open to adaptation than some of the other engineers I've worked with on Nova vessels."

Asahi stuck his hand out, smiling reassuringly. "It's good to have you aboard, Ensign."

Shaking his new commanding officer's hand, Grayson replied, "I am happy to be here, Sir." He beamed a rather large and boyishly charming smile.

After a firm handshake, Asahi's smile turned into a mischievous smirk and a wink. "Careful there, ladykiller. You could win a few hearts with that smile of yours'." It may have been in a joking tone, but the petite engineer meant it to be a light-hearted warning. Sometimes, he could have sworn the whole ship was dipped in the hormones of a bunch of horny teenagers.

"Not so much lady killer." Grayson replied with his own mischievous smirk and wink. He let the handshake last an extra moment and held his gaze at the same time. He wanted to play with fire, sometimes the burn was worth it he thought. Grayson had to figure he was in some way interested or attracted now.

For a fleeting moment, Asahi almost began to wonder if he was being hit on, dismissing the thought as one of vanity. It had been so long since his encounters with Keval that Asahi hadn't thought much about anyone having some form of interest or another. "No? Well, to each their own, I suppose." His expression stayed, however, as he figured himself just a little friendly as opposed to sending any signals out.

For a fleeting moment, Asahi was right. Grayson couldn't help himself at times, rather, all the time. He looked forward to the meeting now, meeting the rest of the department...and more exchanges with his Chief.

OFF

Lieutenant Asahi Kita
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Grayson Jones
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

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