Happy With No Bodily Injuries

Posted on Thu Jun 23rd, 2022 @ 6:03am by Nollel Livaam (*) & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein

Mission: Mission 15: Adrift
Location: Deck 7 - Control Room
Timeline: MD04 11:00
1246 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Nollel slumped into the chair where she had all the communication feeds going and location of where everyone was. She knew she was tired but she dare not have anymore coffee for fear of the jitters she would have. Coffee was not always the best policy after your sixth mug of black coffee called wake the dead. She glanced up from watching where Kalahaeia and Cassie were to see Michael coming in. She had left him with medical to fix him up after his accident with the sink so was relieved to see that he was up and about. “Okay?” She wondered quickly giving him a look over.

"Yeah. 'just a flesh wound'," he joked, giving her a wry smile as he dropped into a chair. "Mild concussion. My head's too thick for something like that to cause any real damage."

“Look we both know you are thick skulled but that does not mean anything. We’ve both had a lot of head trauma recently.” She reminded with a cheeky smile leaning out to touch his hand. “Some day that luck will run out.”

"Nah." Burnie clasped her hand lightly, smiling up at her. "Mine already did. But it was a few years back, so I figure I'm on my second round of luck now, which should buy me another decade or two," he joked, though honestly he'd had a moment of worry when his thoughts had been a bit scrambled right afterward. But he wasn't struggling for words now so the crack on the head hadn't shaken loose whatever fix Divash had used to block the temporal aphasia, so despite a bit of headache he was feeling almost elated.

Nollel’s smile faulted for a second as she looked at him and nodded fixing it back on her face. “I want more than a decade or two with you.” She said simply before turning back to the controls she had that was basically in charge of the ship and the communication units that the teams had around the ship.

Immediately regretting the joke, he rose (slowly - being unsteady would not play well right now) and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Personally, I'm hoping for at least a century with you," he said, leaning his head against hers.

“Humans.” The woman tutted with a smile as she enjoyed the closeness. It was just comforting right then and there. “Big gestures and words are not good for you right now.” She said turning on the stool to look at him. “Do not throw yourself away so easily is all I’m thinking even in joke.”

"Hey, I didn't throw myself anywhere. The sink threw itself at me," he objected, though jokingly. "Seriously, I had no intention of getting hurt, It wasn't like I was trying to shut down a warp overload, just handle a minor job that needed doing." Honestly, there were a lot more, but he'd promised to rest for today. Or at least mostly sit still. He looked over her shoulder at the controls she was minding. "Speaking of jobs, you seem to be doing several. Can I help with some of that?"

The woman squeezed his arms around her just enjoying for the moment the warm presence of him being there and safe. "Of course, I am doing several jobs and you were already helping by being here being eyes and ears." She commented with a small shrug of her shoulders. It was not unusual for her to do so many tasks all at the same time but there she was.

"I can watch you all day," he said, leaning into the hug. But the truth was he'd been hoping for something more than just being a second set of eyes and ears. He was feeling better, and convalescing had never been a strong suit. In fact, there were a few ships and starbases were he had something of a reputation, having gotten bored with bed rest and rewired biobeds, scanners, and pretty much anything within reach. Once he'd even invented a new medical device by combining several left on a tray only a short hop from his bed, though the doctor had been considerably less appreciative than he'd expected. "But I need something to do. Maybe I'll tinker with the coffee maker. Some people have been complaining that the brew is weak."

Nollel sighed before sealing herself to nod and accept what he was about to do. “Of course you need to do something. I am the passive one and you do not want to hear Liha and Ford murder each other.” She teased him just a little as she glanced at them and the location they were in. They were moving a lot quicker than the other groups so that was positive in her mind.

"Yeah, that too," he said glancing at the vid feed. Though it wasn't so much a worry about seeing them murder each other - if it came to murder, he'd seen Liha in action and Jake would be toast - it was more screaming, possibly throwing stuff, resulting in damage that could put them all in danger. He ran a hand over hair still disheveled after his head injury. "You know, I'm doing a lot better. I could suit up and go relieve Liha, or Jake, or just chaperone them."

“You are not going out there.” Nollel said turning around to help him settle his hair and shook her head. “You might be doing a lot better now but you were told to give it a few hours right?” She wondered pressing a kiss to his forehead sweetly before pulling back.

"Yeah, but..." Burnie affected an exaggerated pout. "Resting is hard."

“You and preaching to the choir here.” She laughed thinking to when he had attempted to get her to rest. “I struggled too but I did it and I feel better for it.” She reminded smiling at his pout.

He smiled back. They really were well suited to each other when it came to not being much for sitting still. "I know, and I'll try," he settled back with a sigh. "But I need at something to do. Surely there's something I could fix or tinker with?"

“If you have any idea what a formal centre is could have a look there?” She suggested with a shrug. It was not something she knew much about but there was so much to learn about the history of the ship. “Seemed to be the warmest place on the ship according to Kalahaeia.”

"On these old ships it was the place to hold formal gatherings, like diplomatic events, so a bit better protected which explains better insulation. But a bet I could tweak the controls a little to keep it warmer," he said perking up a bit at the prospect of a project Rising and stretching a little, he gave her shoulder a brief affectionate rub. "I'll see what I can do. Call me if there's trouble with Liha and Jake, okay?"

“That makes sense.” She finally mused thinking on the formal centre. “You bet I will. But I am sure they will be okay.” Nollel was sure they would be fine seeing they had survived that long without killing each other.

"Okay would be great," he said heading out. "Personally, I'll be happy with no bodily injuries."

Nollel just laughed and let him go. She just had to hope for the same thing.