Elephant in the room

Posted on Wed May 4th, 2022 @ 7:31am by Executive Officer Jake Ford & Leiddem Kea (*) & Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*)

Mission: Mission 15: Adrift
Location: Deck 6 - Chapel
Timeline: MD02 0800
2247 words - 4.5 OF Standard Post Measure

“Anderson!” A voice yelled. “Anderson!” The operations crewman’s voice called again and the crew member stared frustrated at the woman did not respond at all to him. He strode over and touched her arm making her jump. “Stop ignoring me. I’ve called five times.” He said to the woman who just stared at him blankly before rolling her eyes at the man and his arguments.

“Yes, you called me the wrong name again. Just call me Cassie.” Cassie reminded him for the fifth time in as many days. The man looked about to lose his mind when he remember just how tired he was. “I think you need some sleep, Jason.” She said calmly seeing the calculations in his eyes as he remembered all the times.

“Can you finish here? I think I need some sleep.” He said holding out the tools to her. Cassie nodded and took the hypo spanner from him.

As the tired crewman disappeared down the narrow hallway, he almost bumped into a bigger body coming the other way. Some awkward shimmying later, Jason had wormed his way back towards the cargo hold, and Jake was slowly edging the other way.

"How are we looking?" he asked, referring to the work she was doing but almost immediately after realising that the question might be taken another way. "The conduits. Are they in good shape?" he clarified, clearing his throat slightly.

Cassie had just put on face defender when she heard the first words and stopped preparing the device she had been about to use. She pulled it off and looked at the conduits that she had been working on that ran between the cargo hold and the override controls. “They have been in better shape but they will be better once we...I have finished this section. They should not keep going on and like they were overnight.”

"That'll be a relief," he agreed, leaning against the bulkhead. There had been a few complaints about the headaches the flickering had triggered. Another minor thing on a long list of minor things people thought he needed to know. "Did you get much sleep yourself?" he asked, referring to the exhausted crewman he'd just passed in the corridor.

“Yeah. It will be something solid again at least in this area. I’ll start on the chapel next.” She promised knowing that would add another area they could use. She had never been in the compartment but it was pitch black apart from one light. “Not really. Two hours or so but I can last a bit longer now.” She assured looking to where Jason had left. Delaney had been right sleep had left her with a clearer mind

"Don't push yourself too hard," he said, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Nobody will complain if you need to get some extra shut-eye for a few more hours. Goodness knows we're going to be in this mess for a few days more."

Cassie nodded at him and glanced at his hand on her shoulder. It was gentle just like it had been when the ship systems had failed. “I won’t but we need this done and Jason is no good for nothing. Engineers are busy so that leaves… me.” Cassie explained. She was one of the few people who knew the systems, especially in this area of the ship that was still the same as they had been in 2246. “Well if we are in this for the long haul I really need to find somewhere better to sleep than where I practically collapsed to at 4 am.”

"You're right," he nodded. The setup they had at the moment was a little public; there wasn't an easy way of allowing anyone to sleep well during the waking hours. There wasn't an awful lot he could do about that. "I know that our resident Romulans stole the observation deck for their sleeping area. Probably something to do with not wanting to be smothered in the night." He said it humorously but it was probably pretty close to accurate. "We could sneak you in there. Or find somewhere else that's private?"

“I think just being out of the main route might help. Sleep does not come easy at the moment but we all need sleep.” She did not need to go into the fact she had meant to take something to sleep the previous day as insomnia had become a big thing and why she had been binge watching films and shows when he had come by last night. “Only two of them in that big observation lounge does not seem very fair and has anyone checked them have not killed each other?” She teased back.

"You think I'm brave enough to find out?" he chuckled. "I'll check in on them later." He motioned to the end of the corridor. "Chapel space is just down that way. I've not actually looked inside yet if you wanted to take a look? Can find a quiet corner for you to pray yourself to sleep or something."

The hybrid looked at him and smirked a little at his admission that the Romulans scared him and then the comment over praying. Vulcans did not pray, they meditated and Cassie did not even do that anymore. “I do not pray but it might be quiet as it has no lighting and no one else seems interested in it.” The woman said grabbing up her torch. “And for the record, I think you are pretty brave.” She complimented as she led the way.

"Bravery is often confused with stupidity..." he sighed quietly, watching her go.

The route was dark with only torchlight leading the way but Cassie could see why no one had been down to it in years. “Okay back there?” She checked turning around to walk backwards.

“Don't you worry about me, I slept more than you did," he retorted.

“Well, humans do need more sleep.” She shot back turning around. The flashlight bounced off the walls before settling on the way forward.

The door at the end of the corridor didn't open automatically, so they had to manually slide it open. Inside, their torches revealed a fairly compact space with a few abandoned benches and a small altar-type table at the far end. Starting to walk through the middle together, Jake stole a look at Cassie.

"I wonder how many couples walked down the aisle in here over the years," he said.

“I saw a few when the ship was new,” Cassie murmured back for a second remembering them all. It was another life where everything had been new. She could almost see Sebastian standing at the altar waiting for the couple. “Not quite as … dark as I remember. Was quite romantic the last one I went to… two engineers who had put it off for for five years. The tension, whenever they were in the room, was unreal.” She was lost in memories for a moment smiling to herself.

"I can imagine," he agreed. Silence fell for a minute as they stared around, but also considered where they were standing and what she had said. After making a once-over of the space, he turned back to face her. "Speaking of, uh, tension..." he said softly. "Last night...we...."

Cassie was surprised when he stood there looking at her as she turned to look at him as silence fell on them and the smile fell from her lips. “Last night… we… yes?” She murmured teasing him a little as she shined the light on his chest to be able to see him better.

"I don't know. It sort of felt like we were having a moment," he admitted, matching her smile awkwardly. "Which was, at least to me, not quite how I imagined my evening going."

“Well… it’s not like I’ve not thought about you that way but… not exactly mine to look at or … you know.” She tried to explain as she stepped closer to him not sure what she was really trying to explain. She had been purposely trying to not think about what might have happened if the ship had not decided to throw a fit.

"I thought you were...you know..." he motioned to their environment. She'd been married before. At least that was what he'd understood. Relationships with married people were, in his head, fraught with potential dangers.

“I was but it was over a long time again when Robertson was chosen over me twice and his death ended the awkwardness that it was,” Cassie explained slowly trying to not sound cold about it but it did leave her cold around it but it left her frozen to her core. She did not need to go into the final few moments of it all with him unless he pushed and she did not think he would.

The explanation was a little unusual, but then again he was talking to someone who'd spent literal decades in a transporter buffer. "Well, I suppose neither of us has any particular reason not to...we're both consenting adults..." he murmured, edging just that little bit closer.

Cassie rolled her eyes at his comment and moved to stand in front of him. “Very much consenting. Remember I’m a lot older.” She whispered.

"I'm going to get a reputation for liking older women," he smirked, leaning in closer. When he finally kissed her, it felt like a strange weight had been lifted, the moment standing still for what seemed like forever. As they broke, he held her close. "I know we didn't see this coming. And I know this is probably the worst situation to be starting any kind of relationship. But...I'm glad we did that."

“Worst situations to start something in,” Cassie assured quickly caressing a finger along his lip before leaning up again to kiss him again. The tension was still there but it was bearable.

He smiled at that, enjoying the moment; despite all else that was going on, this feeling took him away from the stress and the worry. Being with her in that silent space was a strange sort of relief from it all. A comfort, amid the oncoming storm.

"We should probably get back to work," he whispered. "But...I don't want to."

Cassie had to admit that she did not want to get back to work at that moment. This was the first time she had been close to someone in two years and she was enjoying the warmth of the interaction. “Then do not,” Cassie said quietly as the torch in her hand dropped to the floor and turned off. “Can claim we got lost in the dark.” She added with a smirk revealing a side of her not many got to ever seen under the coolness she normally projected.

An enormous part of him wanted to. He wanted to hold her for a while. He wanted to stay with her and forget about the rest of the world.

But...he couldn't. He was supposed to be the one in charge, the one taking care of Reuben's crew and ship while he was away - a fat lot of good he was doing so far.

"Cassie..." he whispered, kissing her one more time. "I can't. Not...not right now. All of this is too much for me to ignore," he explained softly. He felt horrible saying it; like he was breaking his own heart. He waited what felt like an eternity to add, "Do you think we can find a space together later? When people might be less likely to send out a search party?"

As if the word search party had been a word to summon said someone a voice called out for Jake somewhere down the corridor. It sounded like it was Leiddem looking for Jake. The woman chuckled and stepped back from him leaning over to retrieve the torch just in time for Leiddem to come in. "Ah, there you are. What are you two up to? Eloping?" He joked seeing they had found the chapel.

Jake's eye flicked to Cassie, mildly embarrassed before he answered. "Just investigating. There are spaces back here for people who prefer something a little less busy." He hoped Leiddem hadn't seen anything. It was dark, so it wasn't likely, but he knew how rumours worked. "Did you want me for something?"

“Could be a worse person to elope with Ford.” Leiddem chuckled a bit shinning the torch around a little more as Cassie moved further into the compartment to leave them alone. “Yeah, I did what you requested with Dixoho.” The man whispered knowing Cassie could hear but it felt strange to say it louder.

"Right," Jake remembered. It seemed right to keep her stasis pod close. It ran on an independent power supply, but better safe than sorry. "I'll come with you now." He looked at Cassie, still wishing things were different and they might have had the chance for a longer moment. "I'll see you later?" he said it as casually as possible, hoping that she would sense the undertone.

“You bet. We can elope then.” Cassie said already climbing over one of the benches to get to a console so she could not see the reaction but she did hear Leiddem collapsing into laughter at the teasing.

"Don't make promises you can't keep..." he retorted quietly, following Leiddem out of the door.