Whispers by the sink

Posted on 19 Sep 2023 @ 7:02pm by Chief Petty Officer Afthinam Naime & Nesh Saalm

2,579 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A Deck 2 - Mess Hall
Timeline: MD 11, 1000hrs

[ON]

Chief Naime was not a subtle creature, so when, after breakfast service that morning, she was lingering in the mess hall longer then usual the other NCOs she had been eating with took the hint and left to go about the days work without her. The room slowly emptied out until all that remained were the engineer and Nesh Saalm, the great provider of breakfast and bloodwine.

The chief hadn't drunk enough bloodwine last night to be hung over but it was written on her face that the evening was still weighing heavily on her, not to mention the revelations of the morning. She sidled up to the Orion with an embarrassingly feeble attempt as casualness "Hey Nesh," she raised a hand in a little wave of greeting "You know, though I do miss the art therapy it has to be said that you're not half bad with the food either."

Nesh looked at her, her hair hidden in a headscarf as she carried the heavy pot to the side. "Hey, I was once a scientist in training. Cooking it just following steps..." she said lightly, watching Naime with a fond smile. And then she stopped and raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at her. "What do you want? You got your I want something and it can be a bit dodgy face on."

"No, no." Naime waved her hands defensively "Its not at all dodgy, this time." So the chef had seen through her brilliant attempt at being casual, oh well time to cut the small talk and cut straight to the mustard "Just I heard that during the night..." she didn't really want to say it, to give credence to the rumours. Just ask what you came here to ask "Do you know Ensign Mimi well?"

"Yes," Nesh nodded and motioned for her to follow her, as she carried the pot for recycling. She lowered her voice, because the ears had walls. "Only friend I'd happily brush if it made her smile, put it that way."

"You'd brush?" A tone of confusion briefly crossed the chief's voice before "Oh right... That makes enough sense." She feel in behind the Orion, noting her hushed tone and kept her own voice down to match. "All I really knew about her before yesterday was that she's the cat that's screwing John. You know, the sort of stuff that comes up in banter down in engineering. But I'm worried. Do you really think she could have done it?"

Nesh considered it, remembering the fight. And the result. "Emotionally? Yes. She could have done it. But physically, the way she was transported to sickbay?" she shook her head, slowly. "Not unless Doctor Wylde stuck the warp core up her backside. Even with everything working 100% on this ship, that wasn't an injury you walked away with a few hours later."

The engineer leaned back against the wall and let out a deep sigh. "What even happened last night?" Maybe in the hot blooded moments where it all went down she had felt certain about what she and the others were doing but now in the cold light of the morning none of it made any sense. "I've never been part of a diplomatic dinner before but I know they aren't meant to go like that, that's not the Starfleet way."

"Felt oddly like one of my family dinners, stabbings included," Nesh said teasingly before she shook her head. "Truth, Naime? I don't know what the Captain's been drinking, but you're right. It wasn't the Starfleet way. This was...her way. Tarin's."

"I didn't exactly help the situation." Naime chided herself. She really didn't feel proud of her role in the night. If she hadn't so quickly jumped to Mimi's side... No use thinking about ifs. "I am sorry. I regret it." the chief spread her hands, she wasn't sure what to say, she wasn't even really sure what she wanted. It's not like she needed to look for forgiveness from Nesh. Nesh wasn't the one in the brig with a knife wound. "I can't imagine Captain Tarin regrets it though. Can't imagine her regretting anything."

"Regret is for suckers," Nesh said before she started scrubbing the pot, clearly thinking. "It's how she gets through. You take the decisions, good or bad, the consequences, good or bad, and you make it your armour. That armour keeps you alive. Keeps the voices in your head quiet..." she let out a breath and met Naime's eyes. "We did what we did. No use crying over it, or worrying. It's the road we are on. I'm a stowaway, who is now basically the kitchen wench. Still, a step up from dancing on tables, just the pay is worse and the loss of dignity I'm still working on. This is murder on my hands."

Naime met the Orion's gaze, there was strength in the girl's green eyes, Naime could see something like conviction, but she knew there was strength in her own eyes too. "That's not armour, that's a comfort blanket. If you can't regret your losses and admit your mistakes then you are never going to hold the trust of others. You can try to hide from your mistakes but you still made them. If you don't address that then people notice." A little flick of her hand indicated the present situation as an example. "If Tarin doesn't have any regret over what happened here last night then, truly, I respect her less. Shows callousness."

"Could have been worse," Nesh said, but in that tone that suggested that worse would have been if the ships had collided and they'd all died. That sort of worse. "I'm currently spending my downtime painting..." she added, a distraction from the conversation they were having...well, an opening for, because honestly Nesh could easily talk about how she didn't get Tarin all day.

The chief nodded, she'd also be glad of the change of topic "I'd love to see your paintings again. I do miss that stuff myself." She admitted. The art therapy sessions that Nesh had put on during the journey the Regula I had been important to Naime, getting all the Trial survivors together in a nice environment. It had been good for them, and it helped the Chief keep an eye on all her ducklings. "I could talk to the captain if you want. What you did meant a lot to us from Trial. It's sad to see you stuck here."

"Don't," Nesh said, quickly, giving her a warning look before she softened her smile a little. "It's fine, it's only temporary. My sister will come back. And then things will change." Or she'd get off at the next stop if Lirha didn't. Nesh had come here because of her sister, there was no point lingering if she never returned.

"I'm sorry, I come here while you're still working, bring up all of last night's drama and..." Naime rubbed her forehead with a guilty look on her face "Don't worry, wouldn't do anything without your say so. Still, I'd love to see what you've been painting. Even if your formal art therapy sessions are over maybe I could come round to yours, you could show me what you've been up to and we could do some painting together."

"Well, try and see if you can visit," Nesh said as she scrubbed, but with a small smile. "Although I don't think the Captain thought about me having visitors when I got put down on...whatever this is. House arrest with labour?"

With the grin of someone who, as Nesh had put it can be a bit dodgy, Naime responded with a sly tone "Well, you know, accidents do happen. If there was an engineering emergency, say one that just happened to be located in an area accessible from your quarters, well nobody could have a problem with me doing my duty to the maintenance of the integrity of this ship."

"Well, if you need to access..." Nesh said with a friendly smile, nodding at the idea. It would be nice to talk to someone about something other than food. In fact, she longed for talking to someone about things. She felt isolated, except for Laeon.

"And if you need anything bringing in that you can't get from the replicator..." a conspiratorial shrug "Well I never know what might need in my toolbox, always pays to be prepared." Naime couldn't help but smile at her own joking, a bit of levity was welcome. It didn't take away from the fact that someone they had dined with just last night was now dead, but it was a welcome distraction.

Nesh laughed, nodding at the words before she let out a breath. "I think that would be really nice," she said, her voice gentle at the offer. "I'll put my...thinking cap on."

"Well just let me know if there are any convenient days to conduct any potential vital maintenance." Something good could come out of this all. Naime gave a gesture to the mountainous piles of pots that faced the young Orion "Would you like a hand, I won't be on duty for a while yet."

"It's okay, I...can do it. I sent Laeon home so I could tackle this," Nesh admitted and gave a small shrug. "It basically just lets me think without actually stressing. How I'd usually be in a long bath, just...obviously like just elbow grease instead."

"I know how it is." Naime relented, not wanting to intrude on this sacred space "Back before I joined Starfleet I was on this ship and I ended up doing a lot of the cooking. Unlike you, I was not very good at making food." The memory of that taste was enough to elicit a grimace on the chief's face "But the washing up, I found it almost meditative. You don't have to think too hard about it, you just tackle each part one at a time."

"And you see the result. Like painting," Nesh said as she met her eyes, holding them with meaning before she smiled. "I like seeing results, Naime. And I know you do too. But I never saw you as a cook! Wasn't there anything you enjoyed cooking?"

"No." She said it forcefully but with a grin on her face that indicated it was all in goof humour. "Maybe there were some things, but in general I never liked the experience. Now my dad was a great cook. I used to come home from a long day at work and there were always just the best smells in the house... I suppose when I was cooking the results never quite met up to my expectations."

"Should let me know if you miss something. No one's forced me to do any specific dishes except the Diplomatic Dish-aster..." she let it hang, watching Naime with a grin.

"You can not let the captain hear you call it that." A hand on her forehead as she tried to hold back a small laugh "She will have you running laps round the ship all the way back to the station."

"What she going to do if I refuse? Confine me some more to my quarters?" Nesh rolled her eyes before she smiled. "Naime, we'll be fine. This isn't forever. Nothing is." And besides, she had her friends. She could get through this long enough for Lirha to come back and take control of the ship.

"I've heard that she threw some of the officers into a volcano, so maybe try to avoid that. But with these foods I'm missing, I'll keep the recipes to myself. Dad would not be happy to hear if I shared his culinary secrets with an Orion." She hadn't really been thinking, the words just flowing out of her mouth but as her brain finally caught up with what she just said she quickly added on "No judgement on you! That's just my dad, things are back home are..." she made a gesture that communicated things like complicated or awkward.

Nesh watched her before she smiled, a smile that seemed almost sad. "Don't worry about it," she said, her voice gentle. "I know there's a lot of past in my people's past. I don't hold that against anyone. Your father wouldn't know me from any other Orion."

"The two of us have had to get through a lot." Naime shook her head, not really sure what she meant by that statement. She didn't often think of her mother, but it was one of many scars left on her family that were linked by a giant web to the Orions. "That's family, you know. Sometimes they're great and other times they lock in you in your quarters and make you cook for the whole crew."

"Wasn't my sister locked me in my room, that was the person in the chair right now. And she is not my family," Nesh said firmly before she finally smiled. "But family's messed up. And we don't chose them."

"Right, of course, the inspection. Sorry." Naime shook her head with a sigh. So much had happened in this last week that she was getting it all mixed up, she needed a drink that wasn't blood flavoured. "I think it'll be good to have your sister back in the chair. I hear she's a reasonable person, the kind you'd want to be a captain."

"Oh, she gets into all sort of like, weird things," Nesh said before she smiled, a small but proud smile. "But she's really good as a Captain, really understands the crew."

"A good sister too? Seems like she doesn't always understand you." Naime stopped herself again, these last few minutes had been one conversational stumble after another. "You don't have to talk about it. I can leave you to the washing."

Nesh dried her hands before she turned to face Naime, reaching to touch her arm. "Like, who ever has a sibling that's good like 100% of the time?" she said and made a face, wanting Naime to know she didn't mind talking about it. Because she didn't. It wasn't exactly a secret on the ship that Nesh and Lirha often butted heads. "But she has my back when it truly matters. Most of the time."

Only-child Naime looked down to her arm in response to Nesh's soft touch. The thought came, uninvited, into her head that maybe she'd have liked a sister. What was it about this morning? She was fumbling her way through conversations and her thoughts were in disarray. Was it all because of what had happened the night before? "Family," she snapped out of the reverie and gave a sage nod, immediately followed by a smirk as she righted herself back into speech "It's good that you've got her and have been able to stay close, a Starfleet life isn't great for that kind of thing. And I think you won't be the only one who will be glad to have her back as captain."

"Oh, I know it," Nesh said before she nudged her. "But for now, we just...get things sorted, right? And it'll all work out once Lirha's back."

[OFF]

Nesh Saalm
Cook
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

&

CPO Afthinam Naime
Engineer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Ullswater]

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