Whilst Gregnol Is Away

Posted on Fri Apr 8th, 2022 @ 4:44pm by Nollel Livaam (*) & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein
Edited on on Fri Apr 8th, 2022 @ 4:45pm

Mission: Mission 15: Adrift
Location: Crew Quarters
Timeline: MD - 7- 17:00
986 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

Nollel stirred at a noise in the distance and frowned as she woke up curled up on Michael's sofa and looked around confused as she came back to the here and now. There was a blanket over her when she knew she had not put it over her when she had been reading a book about the art of Betazed.

“You are back then? I tried to stay awake but seemed a bit impossible.” She called into the quarters smiling that Michael must have gotten off shift. She did not spend every night there but she had thought that seeing they had been on opposite shifts for days with Nollel offering to take night shift on the bridge but now that she was back to normal as of 08:00 that day she might stay up and surprise the man to get them back in sync.

"No problem," Burnie said, coming out of the bedroom as he shrugged on a clean shirt. "You looked so peaceful there, I figured I'd let you sleep. Besides, I needed to wash up." He gave a sideways smile. "Another day shimmying through Jefferies tubes."

“Well, you do shimmying so well. Definitely got the hips for it.” Nollel sleepily flirted as she snuggled a bit more into the blanket. She had not seen him properly other than a sleepy wave in days as she finished shift and he came on duty. She had attempted to join him for dinner but had never made it when he had not been busy so it had likely been a busy couple of days for him. “Been a tough few days?” She wondered taking him in, he looked his usual self but looks could be deceiving.

"I like your hips a lot better," he said with a wink and came to settle onto the chair near her, collapsing to a nearly boneless look. "It's been busy for sure. How about you? Seems like you could use a little more time to adjust schedule," he teased.

Nollel grinned at the wink. Who what had thought a year ago she could be that comfortable with someone."Possibly need a bit more time." She mused sitting up a little straighter as she pulled the blanket over him as well as herself. "Who knew gamma watch for three days would be so challenging. I either slept, eat or returned to the bridge." She should have prepared a bit better by getting up at a better time before she started or something. "Was not busy really just making sure we followed the route and responding to any alerts and send someone to look it all over if needed."

"Typical gamma shift," Burnie said, shifting over to the couch to snuggle beside her. "It was my assigned shift on my first ship. I'd always been a bit of a night owl back on earth, but it still took some adjusting. I think I was practically a 'ghost' - someone the rest of the crew only saw in glimpses outside of work - for the first three weeks or so." He stretched a little, cracking his neck. "Which was weird because it's not like it was hard work. Mostly just monitoring and maintenance, so the real challenge was not drifting off from boredom."

“What my issue was.” The first night she was sure she had drifted off and Kea had just left her asleep. “Ended up having to play poker with the night security dispatcher…. Kea. He plays a mean game. But I’m glad to be back to normal from tomorrow. Missed you and just the routine of the ship. Felt a bit apart from everyone.” She admitted wincing as the crack from his neck.

He turned and kissed her. "I missed you too." Smiling, he brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "It's funny. I usually feel a bit apart from everyone, and it never really bothered me. It was normal, but... I'm looking forward to getting back our normal."

Nollel smiled at his gentleness and lay her head against his shoulder. "Been a weird couple of weeks with Reuben not onboard and everyone covering for that gap. Our normal hmm? Now, what is that?" She mused relaxing more at his admission of getting back to some type of normal. It was not at all what she had expected that night in the crew bar when she had tracked him down in the slightest.

"This?" He leaned his head on hers, pulling her a little closer. "I mean, this ship is probably never going to fit any definition of 'normal', but being here with you like this ...it's the closest to normal I've felt in a long time."

The woman relaxed into him holding her close and could not help but thank the universe for all the routes that she had taken that had led her back to the ship. "I meant us being like this but yes I do not believe this ship will ever be the definition of normal at all. Did you have anything planned for the evening?"

Burnie shrugged a little, a minimal movement so as not to disturb the woman resting on his shoulder. "Not really. I figured you might be tired with making the adjustment, so the best plan seemed to be having no specific plans. Is there anything you'd like to do?"

“Can I stay over and just sleep?” She wondered. “Maybe have that quiet night we keep trying for.” She offered. Book, bed and sleep sounded perfect to her to get her back into sync.

It really did sound like the perfect quiet evening together. He smiled, imagining of how surprised a number of his old Starfleet comrades - possibly including Kali - would be that 'The Mad Bomber' would think that of a quit evening in. Rotating his face a fraction, he kissed the top of her head. "It sounds wonderful."