Breakfast Notices

Posted on 04 Jan 2013 @ 3:10am by Warrant Officer Evan Kell
Edited on on 04 Jan 2013 @ 5:46pm

3,967 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Mess Hall
Timeline: MD 16 0700

[ON]

Jeremy stared at the sign posted on the buffet case, both frowning and puzzled.



"I didn't order that. I didn't even approve that," he said, but without a lot of conviction. Others jostled around him, some smiling, others chuckling. A few outright laughing as they saw him staring at the posted sign.

Jeremy brought out his PADD and looked at the screen. "No, I didn't approve this nor order it."

He looked around the room for the first time as a crewman came out from behind the counter, his countenance worried as he stood next to Jeremy. "I told them not to put that up there!" he said, fear and uncertainty lacing his voice. The mess hall staff were all enlisted, they couldn't afford to piss off an officer that was constantly pissed. "It's supposed to be a joke, I think," the crewman said. "Based on what happened the other day. And you being, y'know, the Soup Nazi and all."

"Well, it's not very funny is it?" Tiffany said, standing on the other side of Jeremy and glaring at the crewman. "Neither is calling Lt. Stone a 'soup Nazi' because he wasn't the one that attacked Lieutenant Liyar with a bowl of soup now is he? He's the one that stopped the fight, not started it!"

Jeremy continued to stare at the sign while the other two spoke. Now he slowly looked around the mess hall. "This is a joke?" he asked the crewman. "People are humored by this?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. Some. Not everyone." The crewman grabbed at the sign to take it off the case.

Kell leaned over, a tray with a cinnamon roll, a bowl of fruit and fresh coffee from the opposite end of the counter. "Hm," he said curiously, reading the sign. He wondered why that was funny as well. Soup Nazi? As in, the Holocaust? He shuffled his tray a bit and pulled out a PADD, setting the tray on the counter and typing in something. "Mm," he repeated to himself again. "Pop culture reference," he finally figured out. "An old one. Seinfeld." He showed the PADD over.

Jeremy took the PADD from Kell and read the entry. He noted, once again, that it was labeled 'humor'. He had spoken with Kell about this before - how he had to accept that people found humor at his expense and in some ways that should make him happy. Yet, looking at the sign and what was said on it didn't make him happy at all. It didn't make him amused at all. It was untrue and someone was besmirching the Security department in order to make the joke humorous.

"It wasn't a bowl of soup," he muttered, wondering why everyone kept referring to the 'deadly weapon' as a bowl of soup?

"Well, it's not funny at all! People making fun of Lieutenant Stone just to make themselves feel better! It's not funny!" Tiffany scowled as she bit her lip. "Are you okay, Lieutenant?"

Jeremy handed the PADD back to Kell as he glanced around the room again. It seemed the humor of the situation had left, leaving people looking... scared.

Kell turned, realizing a group of enlisted officers were staring at them uneasily. "Go away," he ordered them pleasantly, with a mild wave of his hand. He used the same hand to pick up and drink his coffee, gazing at them all pointedly. A few took a couple of moments to realize he was serious, before they began milling about again awkwardly. He looked back down at the sign and the chef. "Any idea who put it there?" He watched one of the goldshirts fidgeting in the distance and settled his eyes on the guy.

The crewman looked uneasy as he fidgeted. It was not a good spot for him to be in. It certainly wasn't him that had anything to do with it! "A couple people were talking about it, several of the crew. But I thought they were just joking. I didn't think anybody would actually do it! It wasn't any of the mess hall staff, I'll tell you that!"

He fidgeted more.

"Doesn't matter," Jeremy said, "I can always review the security feed to discover the culprit."

The crewman fidgeted more. "I don't think he'd do it! Not after he got reinstated!"

Jeremy stopped at that. "Reinstated?"

"Yeah," the crewman said, a little too quickly. "Kiwosk was in here the other day, with a few others. They were all complaining bout you and Kiwosk joked about putting up 'no soup' signs. But he wouldn't do it! I just bet he wouldn't do it."

Jeremy's puzzled frown turned into a scowl. "Stop," he said, losing his patience with the entire venture. A harmless joke he could let slide - but it had a deleterious effect on the Security department since they dragged the entire department into it...not just him. Now he had someone casting the blame toward one of his security officers. "Do you have any proof that Chief Kiwoski had anything to do with this other than comments made several days ago?"

"No," the crewman said, looking to Tiffany or Kell for help.

Kell just pointed at the corner of the wall where he knew the security feeds were embedded. Neither Tiffany nor Kell looked particularly amused. Though, Kell tended not to look like much of anything, but the security feeds were the quickest and easiest way to halt the entire thing in its tracks. Though, Kell kept his eye on the goldshirt in the corner, who didn't seem to notice his scrutiny.

"Juvenile pranks defaming the Security department is one thing," Jeremy said squaring off to the crewman, "But I will not tolerate false complaints filed against my security officers. Crew have the right to make complaints against my officers but I will prosecute false or frivolous complaints." Jeremy pulled out his PADD and flicked to the application that connected him to the main Security system.

"What? No! I didn't say he did it! I didn't complain that he did it! You just asked who was involved and I just said that he talked about it the other day! I'm just a crewman, I spend time in the brig now and it'll cost me a promotion to petty officer! Look, I haven't even seen the Chief yet this morning so it couldn't have been him!" The crewman turned between the three, also looking into the mess hall, hoping someone would come to his defense or assistance. However, what seemed so funny all morning long was turning into something completely different now. "Look, it was just a joke okay! Nobody meant to defame anyone or get anybody else in trouble!"

"Did any of you stop to think that maybe some people wouldn't think it's funny! You just think that you can make whatever mean jokes you want about people all you want and then shouldn't be in trouble because you said "it's just a joke!" but it's not funny! You're hurting people with what you're saying and why are you calling somebody a soup Nazi anyway? That doesn't sound like a very nice thing," Tiffany turned to face the room at large. "And all of you, laughing about it like it's no big deal but now people are getting in trouble just so that all of you meanies can feel good about yourselves! Well it's not funny! What would be funny would be things that make everybody feel better about themselves instead of making somebody feel worse so you can laugh at them!" She gave the room her Best I'm Not Happy Glare.

"Settle down, Petty Officer," Jeremy said as he watched the video footage. The goldshirt from the corner exited very quickly. He turned off the application and walked over to a table, sitting and staring at the wall.

Kell found himself agreeing with Tiffany, and nodded while she spoke. When the commotion eventually died down, the both of them followed and sat down with him, Kell with his customary literary choice laid out on the PADD he settled in front of him to read. This time it was Odd Thomas. Several strawberries disappeared while he read. He knew that Tiffany was developing a thing for Stone, and was happy to let them (or in this case, her) talk while he read.

Tiffany set a tray down in front of Jeremy before setting hers down as well. Somehow she managed to make both sound like they were slammed. She gave he mess hall another Best Glare before sitting down herself. "I'm sorry Lieutenant, some people are just such poohpooh heads!" She blushed to use such strong language. "I got you some breakfast cause I noticed that you walked away without getting something to eat and we all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

She glanced at Kell wondering how the poor boy was holding up even though she hadn't officially told him that she wasn't going to return his affections in favor of the growing relationship between her and Lt. Stone.

Jeremy blinked and looked down in front of him. There was...food...on the tray. Looked like eggs and cheese and maybe something that might be sausage. An omelette scramble. With a side of cut melons.

"I wasn't sure what you liked so I got normal stuff. Nobody doesn't like eggs and sausage, and melons are very healthy and good." She bit her lip, hoping she made the right choices. She didn't know him very well but it was kind of important to start knowing the small stuff.

Jeremy frowned. He didn't know what he liked himself. He wasn't even sure he was hungry anymore. "People were amused by that sign?" he asked, still unsure. He looked at Kell. "This is like we talked about, right? That it brought happiness and joy to others?"

"I think people were amused by it," Kell agreed, looking up from his PADD. "But as Darwisch said, there's a difference between laughing with someone and laughing at someone. Whoever it was probably thought they were trying to 'even the score'. They felt antagonized so they resorted to that instead of talking to you. It's juvenile, but common."

"Antagonized?" Jeremy said as he stared at the tray in front of him. "That's not humor at all. That's the opposite of humor." Jeremy glanced around the mess hall. Now that Kell said it, people did seem more nervous. Less jovial than they did when he first came in and saw the sign. "Why would anybody feel antagonized?"

"Well, it isn't that you're doing anything to them, but they don't know how to interpret you," Kell pointed out with a shrug. "Being very literal or precise, having demanding or exacting standards, that's threatening to a lot of people who aren't on the same page," he explained. "It's something they'll have to work out for themselves. They don't understand you, so they're afraid of you. It's dumb, but common."

"They're bullies," Tiffany said, being uncharacteristically quiet. "Nothing more than mean, cowardly little bullies who can only talk about a person behind their back because they don't feel special for themselves but only bitter and regret and shameful so when they see genuinely Good People they have to Tear Them Down or they might have to start feeling really, really badly about themselves and how little and petty they are. Instead of trying to find ways to make themselves better they decide instead to bring the other person down until they're all broken and rotting in the mud. Only then can these mean, cowardly, bullying pooh pooh heads feel better about themselves cause now they're 'superior' to someone else!" She bit her lip again, blushing that she had Cursed for the second time that week. It was getting to be quite the habit with her. Soon she'll be going for the Really Bad Words. She drank coffee to try to cover her blush.

"It wasn't like this before," Jeremy said. "Back where I came from. People weren't antagonized by me." He was of course using very selective memories to justify that statement, but it was something he did automatically. He remembered the good, warm fuzzy feelings he had when he left his last assignment, left Chief Alexander - who was probably one of the best bosses Jeremy could remember working for - but none of what had been happening over the last week. "I thought I was ready, but..." He stared at the tray, trying to remember why he selected an egg scramble. Trying to remember if he liked eggs or sausage.

"It'll take time," Kell said with a introspective nod. "Either you'll get used to people here, or they'll get used to you. Darwisch brought your breakfast," he reminded his friend automatically.

"Or," Jeremy said. It was something he'd been thinking about, but didn't realize it until it was said last night. "I could transfer back." He picked up a fork and stabbed at the scramble before putting the fork down again. "Thank you, Mister Darwisch. But, I think I've lost my appetite this morning."

Tiffany Frowned then an idea struck her. While Jeremy wasn't looking she grabbed his PADD and quickly typed out: eat egg scramble with toast, juice and milk for breakfast. She then tapped Jeremy on the arm. "Are you sure? Don't you want to check your schedule?"

Jeremy glared at her, finding his PADD in her hand. "That's not a toy!" he said, his voice raised. "It's not something for you to just pick up and play with! It's a... it's mine!"

Kell looked between them silently, realizing what Tiffany had done and wincing a little. That couldn't go over very well. "You could," he interrupted the little tirade by returning to what he'd said before, offering a Shrug of Condolence, "Transfer," he elucidated, "But I hope you'll stick around."

"What?" Jeremy said, turning back to Kell, but the scowl still on his face. He grabbed the PADD and put it back in his pocket, after looking at the screen. Though, Darwisch was correct, it did have him scheduled to eat and drink what was before him. He frowned. He didn't remember making that note. But wasn't that the point of the PADD, to make notes of things he might otherwise forget.

Tiffany, however, was shocked by his outburst. She didn't try to take it away or hurt it or destroy it or anything bad! She was trying to help because she was concerned! "Well you need to eat! You have skipped breakfast every day so far that I've known you and everyone knows that breakfast is The Most Important Meal of the Day! And you don't hardly eat anything for lunch either but maybe some crappy little sandwich and I don't know about dinner but noboody ever sees you eating dinner! And you don't sleep enough either! No wonder you're letting these bullies and cowards and other Not Nice People get you so cranky! You're hungry and tired and not feeling like the Really Great Person You Are - so excuse me for trying to be caring and a friend and helpful and worry and care about you!" She slammed her fork onto the tray, the equivalent of a foot stomp. She couldn't believe they were fighting over something as stupid as a PADD. Not even a good PADD either. It was old and beat up and not very good anymore. Why he should just replicate himself a new one and transfer his data. She was sure the new PADD would be generations more advanced than what he was using now.

Jeremy scowled again but looked down at the food in front of him. "You're right," he said, somewhat glum. He didn't feel hungry but...well...he made schedules for a reason. He was still bothered by the evidence that he didn't follow his own schedule before bed last night. Whatever was wrong was probably still affecting him. He ate a mouthful, aware that it had started growing cold and congealed. "What's the point in staying," he said, after dutifully chewing thirty two times, "if I'm just antagonizing everybody?"

"Mm," Kell contemplated, taking several moments of his own to eat some strawberries and drink his coffee, "You could transfer back, eventually Starfleet will change your assignment. You could end up in the same situation. But, you can learn how to deal with it now. You're not intentionally antagonizing anyone," he pointed out after eating another strawberry. They were almost gone now. Time to start on peanut butter and toast. He paused for a very long time while they ate in silence and then added, "People are tricky. They do things without thinking. If they thought of you personally, they'd identify with you and feel bad for their actions. Since they don't identify with you, they don't treat you well," he explained.

Jeremy continued eating while he contemplated what Kell said. It reminded him of....something. A conversation? Maybe one that he had recently. Kell sounded right, which is probably why Jeremy brought the problem to his friend in the first place. He knew that people didn't respond to security officers because of the person but rather the position. He also had to come to terms that people treated him differently because of his...condition. But still, things were making him lose control. He had several...incidents...over the last few days. That was more than he had in...he frowned as he chewed. Well, it wasn't more...it was more tightly condensed. The others he could vaguely recall were more spread out, allowing him to be able to recover between them, regain his composure and control. But as it was, he was reverting back to years ago...when he had to fight every minute of the day to prove he belonged where he was at.

"I need to speak to Coleman," he said, after noticing the two people he sat with, the ones he seemed to be spending most of his time with. Looking at Kell, he asked, "How did you get to be so outgoing?"

"Coleman's good," he agreed. If anyone could connect to him, it'd be the El-Aurian. "Most people don't think I'm very outgoing," he said with a small half-smile. He recalled his own years on Earth, which were comprised of a lot of social ineptness and awkwardness, born of his own neurological make-up, looking in from the outside. "I've had a lot of practice watching people. Studying psychology, reading body language. The tough part's; nitpicky, intuitive stuff." It would take time, but he seemed confident Stone would get there eventually.

Jeremy drained his juice while trying not to glare at the sign on the table next to them. He sighed, realizing he'd eaten more than he had the past several mornings. "Thank you, Warrant, Mister Darwisch. I have to get to my duties." He stood, grabbing the sign and the tray. He lingered for a moment, sure there was something that should be said but he had no clue what it was and couldn't get to his PADD. Instead he nodded and turned, dropping everything into the reclamator on his way out of the messhall.

Tiffany turned to Kell after the door closed behind him. "Oh Kell!" she said, forgetting in her panic how horrible he must feel at losing her to someone else, someone that was his Really, Really, Good Friend. "We can't let him leave the ship! We have to do something to get people to realize what a really, really, really great guy he is so that he doesn't want to leave! Think Kell! We've got to do something!"

Kell nodded. Tiffany was right. They needed to meddle a little. "Mm. People need to see him as a normal guy. I don't think he has any non-solitary hobbies, though... Opera? Movie night?" he threw out, ripping open a small package of strawberry jam.

"Hrmmm...he was upset the other day when I sang some opera and he left quickly so I don't think he really likes opera. I'm not sure how movies will get people to like him or make him want to stay." Tiffany bit her lip as her face scrunched up. "But we have to do something! Well, I guess we have time to think about it because he's not going to be able to get a transfer and leave today is he? He'll have to at least complete this mission and wait for a new chief to come before he can move on, right? C'mon Kell! We have to think of something, you can't just let your best friend go away!" Unless, she had a sudden, nasty thought, you're mad at him for winning my affections over you! Her eyes widened at that thought. Jealousy was Such a Bad Thing!

"Mm," Kell agreed, completely unaware of the turn of her thoughts. "Not today. Crew Night? We could get something started, get Jeremy in on it? He's not very interested in people, but if people see him socializing... He wants to learn, I think. It could be a learning experience."

Tiffany bit her lip, thinking. It wasn't a bad idea. And crew nights were FUN! People got together for good times and crew members had a chance to show off their talents. Prizes could be won and maybe even have department standings if they were to do more than one. Yes, that sounded like it might be a really good idea! "Okay, that sounds good. And he'll have to know about it because with so many people in one spot, he'll have to worry about it for security!" She thought she could sing again because she knew she was good at that! Maybe this time she could do a song he liked and it would be a Big Moment For Their Relationship. "Okay, let's start working on that idea right away! You should probably bring up the idea of him helping with it. His best friend asking for help would seem less meddlesome than his girlfriend nagging him!"

She gasped as she clasped both hands over her mouth, her eyes gone wide with shock. "Oh, Kell! I didn't mean for you to hear about it like that! All blurted out and stuff! I mean, you're a decent enough guy and all but you're just not a good boyfriend for me! I'm so sorry, I wanted to find some nice, easy way to break up with you because I think that Jeremy and I are in love! But I didn't want to hurt you either. You're sweet, in a way, just need a lot of work to become a better boyfriend!"

Kell smiled to himself and shook his head. "I'll manage," he offered. "You'll be good for him, I think." Either that, or she'd drive him off a cliff. He was hoping for the former. He held out his PADD with potential schedules listed and a section where they could write down some activities. "Hm, we could set it here..." he pointed. "Give him time to get used to it, go all out." He suspected Tiffany could take care of that no problem. At least he didn't take it as bad as Liyar had. Who knew Vulcans could be so scorned? He had a momentary lapse of pity for his friend, wondering if Jeremy knew of the Epic Romance he was currently involved in. Eh, who knew. Maybe it would be good for him.

[OFF]

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