Doing The Rounds

Posted on Thu May 5th, 2022 @ 5:12pm by Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya & Executive Officer Jake Ford

Mission: Mission 15: Adrift
Location: Deck 6 - Cargo Bays
Timeline: MD-02 0900
1774 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Having left Cassie to continue her work, Jake stepped out of the old hatchway back into the main cargo bay section. Off to his far right were the makeshift bunks where most of the crew had slept last night. While he hadn't been taking a full roll call of people, given how much else he had to deal with, there were a few notable absentees from the cluster of new bunkmates he now had. In particular, he didn't recall seeing either of their Romulan colleagues present. He figured that would be down to their innate misgivings about sharing sleeping space with so many others; especially with their enhanced senses of smell and hearing.

He wound his way around the deck and through a short passage into some of the less-oft used rooms. Off in the distance he noted the chapel entrance. To his left, there was an observation lounge, which seemed the more likely location for someone hiding out.

Entering cautiously, so as to not overly disturb any occupants, Jake tapped on the inside of the door lightly.

"Good morning?" he offered loudly, waiting to see who would appear.

Motion came suddenly from one darkened corner of the room, where a pile of blankets and pillows shifted rapidly to reveal a tangle of long dark hair half-escaping from a braid and, incongruously, hot pink silk pajamas, unfurling rapidly into a small figure with a bleary but ready stance from where Kali had been sleeping with back firmly to the wall. It was anyone’s guess if she’d learned the habit from her parents as a child, or taken it up much more recently while hanging out in half the dodgy casinos this side of the quadrant.

“Uhh. Sorry about the noise.” Kali drew a hand away from a ‘suspiciously like primed to draw a weapon’ position it had gone to, and sheepishly reached over and jabbed a finger at the tricorder lying nearby to shut off the proximity alarm…that she’d clearly programmed into it and that Jake had just unwittingly triggered. She rubbed her eyes with one hand; the other one grabbing inside the pile of blankets and coming out with a robe that matched the pajamas, shrugging it on and belting it. “Whether it’s a good morning or not may depend primarily on whether or not there’s coffee…”

"There's a brown drink with caffeine in it back in the main cargo bay. Whether that can technically be counted as coffee is anyone's guess," Jake replied. It turned out his instincts about Romulans needing their own space was right. Though the hot pink pyjamas were a surprise. He glanced quickly around the room. It was dimly lit, mainly because the lack of power meant the only lights were externally provided by the stars, and the little light coming from her tricorder. Clearly Liha wasn't around; probably with the other engineers doing the more essential pieces of work. "I know you don't like sharing, but there's not much space to go around. We could do with working out a more equitable situation than you hiding away like this..."

"I don't mind sharing." Kali corrected and shrugged. "I shared quarters for years as a junior officer. I just mind sharing with strangers. Which, well, most of the ship still clocks in at for me right now given I haven't been aboard that long. I'd just ask Burnie to keep watch nearby while I slept but he has way bigger fish to fry." Not to mention she rather suspected there was at least a 50 percent chance his response would be to roll his eyes at the concept.

Jake wondered how Burnie seemed to have the ease of both the Romulans on board. He made a mental note to ask him later, when they weren't knee-deep in it.

"He does. I'm aware of Romulan sensory needs, is all. I figured you might find it harder than most to deal with the hygiene element of bunking with a few dozen other people at once." He shrugged. "If you need some space on those grounds, we can figure something out, but this is a large room for just one person. Or two, if Liha's floating around."

“No one in there stinks as badly as a bunch of pilots constantly overwhelmed by Jem’Hadar ships, I’m sure.” Kali said dryly. “What one finds pleasant and what one can tolerate, especially for the short term…eh, two very different things. And no, not sure where Liha is bunking but it's not here.” She laughed. “We aren’t anywhere near the point of being willing to fall asleep by one another.” In point of fact Kali could have almost guaranteed Liha had been doing research on her these last few weeks like she had in reverse, but beyond that though they’d only occasionally and briefly crossed paths. “But wherever it is, I’d raise the point that in all honesty it’s probably just as well for anyone else that you let her pick a spot a bit away from anyone accidentally stumbling over her. Unfamiliar space, unfamiliar smells and sounds, unfamiliar companions, pre-existing causes of stress…Great way to just be halfway to slamming a guy up against the wall by their neck or stabbing someone by reflex if they make the mistake of waking you up wrong.” A slight little quirk of one eyebrow was accompanied by an expression that was half a humorous smirk but also halfway deadly serious. “So consider that some choices may have almost as much to do with the desire to protect anyone else as they do with protecting ourselves.”

He nodded at the sentiment, agreeing philosophically. "Fair enough. If you feel like that's not going to be a problem, I'm sure there will be some people who don't feel as concerned." He paused, checking the room over again. "I don't need to ask if you're coping with the situation. Any advice?"

“Turn the heat up.” Kali joked; there was a bit of a chill in the air like a Boston autumn, hardly catastrophic but not exactly her preference either and a few degrees below what she’d found to be the usual on the ship to date, undoubtedly a power-conservation tactic. “As for serious advice…Not really I suppose. I assume you’ve already got a handle on the key stuff—supplies, setup of the ship itself and shielding from the storm, making sure everyone aboard made it here. Beyond that it’s just management—watch for threats, which in this case are the storm itself going bonkers or something wonky with the ship, or depending on the group, maybe something personnel related. You know the dynamics of the crew and passengers better than I do.” She shrugged, stuffing a couple of things back into a huge duffel bag and a backpack, then rolling the pillow into all the blankets and tying it off. Given she was fairly petite, it was comical to imagine her lugging it around, though undoubtedly she had to get it there. “Let me change into something else and I’ll clear out of here and go see if the coffee is really that bad…”

"Thanks," he said, processing her advice. It was strangely comforting. "You know, I feel like I slept weird too; that little tingle in the back of my head, warning me to lie with my back to the wall, to have something sharp close at hand..." he shook his head, putting a hand out in an offering to help carry some of her things. "I don't know if the stress of everything is making me feel more..." he didn't finish the sentence.

One eyebrow pulled upwards. "You'll have to tell me about this 'incident' that led to that stuff sometime soon after all this, definitely." Kali said, forking over the nearly cartoonish bedroll she'd made to Jake to carry. Because while there were some base instincts or senses for danger that humans seemed to lack or at least, to be less attuned or sensitive to, half of what he was describing there was beyond just 'instincts and senses' into 'trained behavior combining with them', which made her even more curious about what could have caused the crossover if it went that far. "But if you're looking for advice from a certain perspective...You'll find you sleep better if you trust everyone you're sleeping near....Or at least one of the people still awake." She shook her head. "Kinda sucks for humans though I suppose; you guys need more sleep." This was, quite honestly, her first guess for where Liha was probably choosing to sleep: Nowhere. Iif the storm was only going to last a few days and there wasn't a private spot or a trustworthy and willing watchman; wait it out and sleep afterwards. It was what she knew her father would have done in the same situation.

"I do trust people...mostly..." he frowned, his arms folding around the oversized bedding in his arms. "Well, I thought I did. I guess I'm learning that my subconscious probably doesn't." He shook off the thought. "I'm supposed to be the one in command. That means I need to be able to sleep, preferably more than a couple of hours, so I can make informed decisions." Getting people hurt because of his own lack of sleep wasn't something he felt comfortable with. "If it helps you at all we can buddy-up. I figure you wouldn't be as worried about me murdering you in your sleep compared to others?"

"Technically, I'm not worried about anyone I know on board murdering me in my sleep. I'm not that paranoid; and no one I've met here has earned it. It's unknown quantities that are the issue, and the cargo bay is full of them, so." She shrugged again, the unique eyebrows-and-shoulders-at-once move that hinted at her complicated, amalgamated cultural influences. "But sure."

"I'm sure there was a compliment in there somewhere," he chuckled. "If it helps, we talked about making some space in an adjacent bay for those who prefer it quieter. You could help out with that, if you needed something to do."

"Coffee first." Kali said firmly, seemingly laser-focused on caffeine acquisition. "Or at least whatever is masquerading as coffee."

Amused at how Kali might react to the coffee ration they'd managed to serve up, he laughed. "Oh, this I can't wait to see..." he said, following after her.