Silence Isn't Golden

Posted on Mon Sep 4th, 2023 @ 5:26pm by Jeassaho Kea (*) & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein & Liha t'Ehhelih

Mission: Fractures
Location: Engineering
Timeline: 4th February- 14:00
1108 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Burnie paced around the engineering deck, checking that all was in order for the upcoming confrontation with the Sons of ... the part of his brain that housed expletives had no trouble retrieving any number of substitutes for the battle they'd chosen for their moniker, and since he expected that everyone would know who he was referring to if used any of those substitutions, he didn't bother to code 'Charon' into his padd. Which was as well since the screen on his wrist padd was getting full and he wanted to limited how much he might need to scroll. Having dealt with this issue before, and having made a valiant if futile attempt to prove he could still serve, he'd developed some work arounds. The easiest was using a simple read aloud app keyed to selections from an equipment inventory. That right there would let him bypass a lot a mental snags, since he knew what things were and how to use them, even if he couldn't pry actual words for them out his head. Other simple commands were coded as icons - Stop, Down, Shut it off - and a keypad would let him enter numbers for the app to say.

He'd lived through this before. Already it was getting better, language glitches less frequent, but he knew stress tended to make it worse. And he hadn't tested his system in actual combat. Okay, he had discharged himself from medbay when the station came under attack, but that was because he knew what needed doing but couldn't explain it. While he'd come under fire, it had only been himself at risk (which had in a way felt like less danger than being hunted down and hypo'd into submission by an angry doctor).

This time, however, people were counting on him.

He circled around again, then leaned against a guard rail, scrolling through his icons and trying to think of any crucial terms he might have missed.

Stopping to look over his shoulder, Liha raised an eyebrow. "No entry for 'Boom'"?

Burnie shook his head. "If I ...lose... that one..." He pointed a hand at his head miming firing a phaser.

"No need to off yourself," Liha said.

He looked over at a familiar thin smile. "Because you'll do it. "

"That's what friends are for, right?" She smiled and lightly backhanded his shoulder. "Don't worry so much. We don't really need you for direction." She smirked. "Personally, half the time, I only pretend to listen to you."

"Half? That much?" he puffed a laugh. It was as close as Liha came to a pep talk, but he recognized it for one. And it did help - he was getting too tied up in his own performance. His had a good crew of engineers here. Any one of them was capable of stepping in if he faltered. And could count on Liha to just knock him out if his brain glitched enough to cause problems down here. "Still, better pre..., um..." he pointed to the padd, " ...prepped."

From her vantage point above, Jeassaho observed the playful banter unfolding below with an infectious grin that lit up her features. The weight that had been pressing on her heart since her own unsettling encounter in the grotto lifted somewhat, replaced by a sense of relief upon seeing the man regain his strength and vitality. Having experienced the grotto and the vibe herself, she could only begin to fathom what might have befallen him.

A soft chuckle escaped her lips as the exchange continued to unfold before her. Her voice, carrying a warm and teasing undertone, interjected into the ongoing conversation. “Well, well, isn't it a pleasant sight to witness you back on your feet, you troublemaker?" With those words, Jeassaho's concealed presence was unveiled, her role as an observer finally coming to light.

"Me?" He grinned back at her. "I'm only trouble for those Sons of ...ch'susse-thrai."

Liha laughed. "Cussing like a Romulan! Whatever happened to you may have been an improvement."

Jeassaho grinned and climbed down to join the pair. “I do not know.” The engineer commented taking him in properly now that they were on the same level. “But I see that you do not look injured so must be all in those rocks of yours.” Reuben had told her nothing so she had no idea what was going on at all with him other than he had been injured.

Not looking injured was one of the few bonuses of his sort of brain damage. And he was grateful for that; he hated having people look at him with concern, or pity, and seem to walk on eggshells around him because they saw him as broken or barely put back together. "Only rocks are..." he grinned back and wrapped lightly on his head, "...up here."

"Well, nothing changes there then Burnie. So what do I owe the pleasure of this venture down here when I thought Nollel would have you locked up resting?" Jeassaho wondered quietly as she just carried on as normal. She had known the man for nearly 2 years and it was unlikely that this would affect him at all.

He rolled his eyes. Nollel was his wife, not his mother. And even his mother would have understood that he was capable even with the verbal hiccups. "Hey, I'm needed ....here." His lips quirked in a smirk. "For the KaBooms."

"Ah, that old trope. Your favourite trope." Jeassaho laughed. "Come on then I suppose I should let you play." Jeassaho was fully capable of doing it but there was something much more satisfying to let Burnie, it was a lot more personal.

He nodded firmly. "After they took..." his lips compressed as he tried find the word... Dammit, this was more frustrating than any physical rehab he'd ever been through.... He cracked his neck, then gave in and scrolled to an image and read the read word beneath, "Temperance I would not miss this."

Jeassaho smiled patiently as the man went through the motions of trying to make himself heard. She could have just grabbed it out of his head but she knew that he would not appreciate it. “Atta boy. There is the man I know and respect.” She teased. “So boss I have been going through Engineering to check our systems but I could use the help.”

Burnie smiled and flipped his wrist around so she could see the list on his padd, with almost half the items checked off. "Way ahead of you." It felt good - proof he was as good an engineer as ever, even if he had trouble articulating it.