So, about those bunk mates...

Posted on Wed Jun 1st, 2022 @ 4:57am by Captain David Hawkins & Lieutenant Commander Mel Torma

Mission: The Goddess
Location: Captain's Ready Room - USS Arcadia
1643 words - 3.3 OF Standard Post Measure

What Mel heard from the general scuttlebutt worried her. Okay worried wasn't the right word but she didn't KNOW the right word right now and that's what bothered her a bit more. Bunk mates? But, where would she fit in? How would she fit in? Oh Dia... this was a problem. Okay not a problem but it was a worry, which usually became a concern which had a nasty habit of BECOMING a problem.

With that, the binary officer tapped onto the Captain's Ready Room chime to announce her presence.

"Come in!" the captain called as he wrapped up the final bits he was going to take with him to the Gladiator. As the door slid open, he saw the twin forms walk in as he zipped up his dufflebag. He took a deep sigh of releaf as he saw the familiar faces. "Hey Mel. What can I do for you, and are you ready to get back over to the Gladiator?"

"Oh yes, very much so." she offered as she walked in. She set a rather sizable pair of bags down near the door as she walked in. "Which is, well, somewhat of the reason I'm here. I'm a little concerned about what you..."

"... said in regards to everyone getting bunkmates. I mean, I'm all for adventure and sometimes life in the stars is hard but, I'm already going to be putting a bit of..."

"... an extra pull on resources, being a Dalacari and all, I just want to make sure that either whoever is assigned to my quarters knows going in that we're a bit of..."

"... a wide open space case, or if I could see about, oh I feel terrible even asking." the way she was wringing her hands told the story of how nervous she was. "Requesting an exemption?"

He knew all to well that most of the crew were unaccustom to roughing it up and this was no exception with the Dalacaris. But in the end, the crew needed to, in the must blunt way to put it, suck it up. There were far worse assignments and this was for them to get to the bottom of attacks and murders. Why people weren't willing to get out of their comfort zone to hunt down and end these bastards was really making him wander about his crew and their true loyalties lied.

But when it came to Mel, she was one of the very view that were not someone he would categorize as questionable or not loyal to the cause. So her request was not out of line whatsoever. But he needed to make sure not to show favoritism. "Well, not all quarters in the engineering section of Gladiator are officer or senior enlisted quarter layouts. Most of them are enlisted and junior officer bunk layouts. Primarily two, four, and some cases six bunk rooms with minimal accommodations. I would hate to offer it up to a senior officer, but you could take one of the four bunk quarters, but that means two others in there with you, possibly."

That actually seemed to put her at ease. "Oh that'll be fine. As long as I can convince them to let me have both bottom bunks, that'll be fine." she let go of the breath she didn't even know she was holding, and all that stress just seemed to melt away. "I was more concerned with..."

"... having to have just the one bunk. That would make things, well... uncomfortable. Not saying I can't handle some roughing it, but well it's... It's hard to really describe..."

"... but, it's just a lot better, for me, if I have my own beds rather than having to share. Oh Mel, you're just making this worse as you go." she chided herself. "Okay so, that's covered and..."

"... I very much appreciate it. I'm sorry if it came off as elitist." she tried to smooth the way. Then she took a breath, "It's taboo, really. And very uncomfortable."

"For a Dalacari to come into contact with, well, themself."

"Yes well, I wouldn't call you an elitist just because I made sure you were put in a larger but more bedded section. Most people would see that as the exact opposite. But I also know you wouldn't complain whatsoever. Unless I made you touch yourself," David remarked. Typically that statement would have been out of line and inappropriate. But in this case, it was appropriate.

And the potential awkwardness of the statement didn't even register with Mel. "I appreciate your compassion, Captain." a pause, "And also how concise you word it. Humanity really does have a knack for phrasing." she offered with a pair of smiles. "I realize that a Dalacari on a Single Instance..."

"... ship can be a bit of a resource hog, especially since we're going into cramped quarters. I just want you to know that I really appreciate this." she reiterated. Being a Dalacari on the Gladiator, on the Arcadia, and now on the Gladiator again... must have been tough for her during those times when resources were tight and space even tighter.

"Well we are only going to be on the old girl for about four or five days before we reach the rest of her. Integration of the Saucer section of the Sovereign class requires reinstallation of the blow away latches and a twenty point inspection to all areas. It will be around the clock work for the station, and our repair teams to get her mission worthy once again within a week, if we are lucky. But we shall see," David explained mostly talking out loud to himself to explain to her as well.

She gave a pair of nods, "I'll help out anyway I can. From your perspective, I'm literally an extra pair of hands." she said, now far more comfortable and actually feeling free enough to be amused at the notion. "I feel a lot better now about the situation. I should..."

"... go pack my things and get ready for the move. Permission to depart?"

He blinked for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Yeah, granted... But how are you doing? Sorry, we haven't found much time to check up one one another in a while. It seems like there never is enough down time to really catch up."

She offered him a pair of smiles, her collective posture much more relaxed now that this had transition to a personal conversation rather than a professional one. "We've all been super busy, so don't you worry about it. I know you can't make time on your schedule to check in on everyone, so I don't take it personally." she giggled. "Though it has..."

"... been a small forever, it seems, since the last time we really had a chance to just sit and chat. Which is weird, since most Single Instance life I know loves to sit and chat." a smirk from the pair. "Though listen..."

"... to me making it sound like I don't love to talk. Dia knows I could talk the ears off a statue." she giggled. "But, I digress. Things on my end are good. I'm safe, I'm surrounded by friends and..."

"... people who care about my safety, and I don't have to worry about the necessities. Those are pretty much the most important part of a Dalacari's well being." a pause, "On the flip..."

"... side, my friends and crew know they can depend on me, and while I hope to never really NEED to test that, I have confidence that if push came to shove, I'd shove back." the resident pacifist declared, with no lack of confidence.

"How are you?" she returned the nature of the question back to him.

"Oh..." he took a moment as he rolled his eyes and shook his head. He knew her for years now and she knew him. There was very view times that he didn't seek her counsel or at least her point of views. It was a professional relationship, but deep down, she was part of his family. He wasn't going to just ignore all that time they had worked together. "... Stressed, concerned, annoyed, and want to break down to my old days. Hunt them down and make them feel the same pain, in some way, shape or form that they did to these people. We are all so far advanced and supposed to be more sophisticated yet people are killing people." David shrugged as he went back to wrap up some of his gear. He zipped up the bag and through it on his shoulder.

"David Eugene Hawkins." she paused, "You know better than that. Doing to them what they do isn't justice, it's revenge. And I know that you know that revenge doesn't fix things..."

"... it just makes the hurt hollow." she offered. "We'll get them, we'll track them down and bring them to justice. Then the dead can rest." she put a hand gently onto his shoulder, "And I'll be there to help you, every step..."

"... of the way. We'll find them, and we'll stop them."

"Yeah I know. Thanks Mel," David remarked as he took in the words. He was seriously beating himself up but this wasn't going to help. He needed to move forward. "Guess I need to knock this damn pity party crap up and get going, what do you say?"

She offered a pair of smiles, picking up her own two duffels without much trouble. "I say, consider that party over." she said softly, "And, it would take a binary life form to be David Hawkins' shoulder angel."

A slight smirk came to his lips at that mental image before he lead her out of his quarters. "Well I know I can count on you to always have a positive outlook on all this. No wander I have kept you around."