Frustrations

Posted on Mon Feb 21st, 2022 @ 4:18am by Senior Chief Petty Officer Mason Malone & Ensign Kateyo Fenn

Mission: Character Development
Location: Mason's quarters
Timeline: MD04: Early Evening
2745 words - 5.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Of course. Mason scowled under his breath as the sonics refused to fire up. Just when he really wanted to get clean, especially after a long day at work and plenty of running around, his sonics refused to function. Sighing, the security officer got himself dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, then fumbled for his communicator among the discarded duty uniform items. "Engineering, this is Chief Malone... could someone please be sent up to have a look at my shower?"

----

"No, no, no, no," Teyo protested to the shift duty officer. "Please, I'll do anything to not have to go there."

"You're on maintenance Ensign," Lieutenant B'heffi said without even looking up from his PADD. "Go and fit that shower and be quick about it."

"You don't understand, I hate being around-"

"No, you don't understand. You don't get to pick and choose the jobs you want to take. Go and fix that sonic shower, now!"

Teyo sighed. He knew he wasn't going to win this one. B'heffi was a bigger ball buster than Keating, and he knew how to hold a grudge. "Is this because of the replicator incident?"

B'heffi looked up, his eyes twinkled, and there was a hint of a smirk underneath his dark moustache. "It's not not because of the replicator incident. Have fun."

----

A few minutes later Teyo was outside of Mason's quarters. He took a deep breath and pressed the button that activated the chime inside the room.

Well that was quicker than expected. Mason sighed in relief as he called for the door to open. His expression darkened a little as he saw who had been sent to help him out. "In there," he muttered, pointing the way. "And wipe your feet please, I like to keep things tidy." As proven by his spotless quarters, small as they were. He sighed to himself. "Thanks for the quick answer," he added under his breath.

"Wipe my feet?" Teyo repeated in pure indignation. "Sure, I'll make sure to wipe my feet," all over your face, he thought to himself.

"It's that or remove your boots," the security officer answered with a shrug.

"And you wonder why Kevan doesn't want to f**k you," Teyo replied before he could stop himself. He wiped his feet with extra force and then looked up at the man. "Happy?"

Mason glared back at him. "You clearly have no concept of what a relationship is," he snapped back as he preceded the way though his bedroom towards the bathroom. "The shower won't cycle up, I've tried everything," he explained while casually kicking the pile of discarded clothes under the sink, and thus out of the way.

Teyo let out a loud booming laugh, "and clearly neither do you." He followed Mason into the bathroom and pulled out his tricorder, scanned the shower and studied the readings on the screen. "Looks like the relays need replacing, not a big job, shouldn't take me too long."

"Good." The sooner the guy was gone, the sooner he could get clean again. "And I was married for six years, pretty sure I know what a relationship is." Mason shrugged, moving out of the way so Teyo could do his job.

Teyo rolled his eyes as he snapped his tricorder shut and started searching for a different tool in his kit. "And now you're not, what's your point?" He asked without even turning to face the man.

Mason leaned against the sink, his face a mask of frustration. "The point is that you don't know me. The point is that my ex-husband and I separated on good terms." Mason smiled fondly now because, despite it all he would always hold a note of love for his ex. "He was a little...eccentric, shall we say. And he grew unhappy being on a starship, always worrying if I'd be safe. Now, he doesn't have to worry, now does he? It was a mutual decision, and now he's happy on Mars, and I'm here." He shrugged, looking at the backside of the engineer as he worked.

Teyo smiled. He wanted to make a comment about being on Mars was probably not far enough away, but he held his tongue. Instead, he stood up and turned to face the man, laser-torch in hand. "You clearly have no concept of what a relationship is," he said coldly, doing his best to sound like the human. "Your words, not mine. You claim I don't know you and I'll happily accept that, but you sure as hell don't know me either. So get off your high, what's the phrase? High pony? And remember that you're not better than me."

"Whoa..." Mason jumped back at the sight of the torch, not even registering whether it was activated or not. "I never said I'm better than you, and you're right I don't know you. But it's you who is judging me here..." He shrugged. "I loved my ex, and part of me still does. We parted on really good terms, and he's happy. That's better than unhappily married right? He didn't like starship life, and he didn't like having to worry. And now he doesn't." He forced a smile. "And it's horse..."

Teyo was a little taken aback by Mason's sudden movement at the sight of the tool in his hand. He looked down at the laser-torch and then back up to Mason, "grow up," he said, clearly annoyed by the security officer's tactics. Teyo had been around long enough to know that this was what security officers liked to do, perceive you as a greater threat than you actually are, so then they have any excuse to take you out, with zero consequences.

Teyo turned his back on Mason and started removing the panel so he could finish this job and get the hell out of there. "Mason, in all honesty, I don't care enough about you to judge you. I have always been open and honest with what I think and my opinion hasn't changed. And if I'm being frank, I don't care about your ex-husband, I don't care how friendly you are or how amazing you're marriage was. Go and tell Kevan or Finn, they're your sounding board, not me."

"Seems to me you don't seem to care about anyone," Mason shot back, "and you push anyone and everyone away." He resumed leaning against the sink and crossed his arms over his chest. "Must be very lonely, on that horse of yours."

Teyo let out another booming laugh. "Is that what you think? Stick to your day job stalker, counselling is clearly not for you."

"It's what I observe," Mason explained, "I can't help observations, it's part of my training. And I'm gladly leaving counselling to those trained for that." He nodded towards the shower. "And the fixing to engineers. Are you about done?" He really did want that shower by now.

"I would be, if you would stop talking for a moment and let me do my work," Teyo groaned. He purposely ignored Mason's comments about his 'observations'. They were beyond unfounded and he didn't have the time for the human's mind games. He removed the panel and started pulling out the offending relays. Wiping some sweat from his brow he suddenly realised that it was unusually warm in the room. "Why is it so warm in here?" He asked as he removed his outer jacket, leaving just his standard-issue vest.

"Because it's a bathroom," the Human quipped as he couldn't help but glance over the Trill's now more exposed form. "One tends to be less than clothed in such a room..."

"Well, I'll try not to sweat on your precious floors," Teyo replied, smirking slightly.

"Precious huh?" Though unseen, Mason smirked back. "Maybe I'll let you get cleaned up first when you're done." Maybe not so obviously referring to letting him use the shower, rather than clean up the floor. Though it was very obvious he did like things to be clean and tidy.

Teyo pulled a face. "I think I'll shower in my own quarters, thanks. I see you undressing me with your eyes, not that I blame you. I'm much nicer to look at than Kevan; the closeted bore."

"Up to you...." He didn't comment on the other remark, even if he'd have to admit that Teyo was indeed well formed and did have a certain handsomeness. Especially being rather sweaty. Instead of commenting, he grabbed a clean towel and draped it quickly across his neck. As he did, unknowingly, the back of his fingers brushed against the spots that ran down the engineer's face.

Instinctively, Teyo grabbed Mason's hand, as though ready to defend himself. Quickly realising there was no danger, he held the arm tight as the two men stared into each other's eyes. "If you wanted to touch me, all you had to do was ask."

Mason froze as his hand and then arm was held tight, staring right back. The tension was palpable as neither seemed to want to back down first. Mason searched his face, unconsciously still drawn to the smattering of spots that ran down either side. "I didn't," he finally said, "but you seem to want me to, if all I need to do is ask." His own expression was almost expectant, wondering what was going on.

Teyo's eyes narrowed as he stared into the eyes of the human. He had to admit that Mason was easy on the eyes, even if he was a complete and utter moron. The Trill stood there frozen for a second, as though fighting an internal struggle, and as soon as it had begun the war was over. The only outwardly tell was a slight shift in the man's stance. "Don't think this is about you," was all Teyo said, before he pulled the human closer and kissed him on the mouth.

The pull was unexpected and there was no resistance to it. The Human's eyes widened in surprise as he was suddenly kissed but again there was no resistance. Having no words in response, Mason allowed the kiss and actually found himself returning it. When he finally pulled away, it had left him a little breathless and he had to admit that it hadn't been unpleasant, and he actually wanted more. Eyes never breaking contact, he reached up again but this time to cup the man's face with one hand, this time purposefully brushing his spots as it seemed to have given a reaction before. Leaning in, he kissed him again, putting a little more passion into it.

'Well that was easy,' Teyo thought to himself as Mason went in for a second kiss. He had to admit that the man was full of surprises, he had always come across as boring and a bit creepy to Teyo, and here he was being passionate and spontaneous, miracles did happen. Teyo moved in closer so that their bodies were touching, so close in fact, that he could feel Mason's heartbeat through his chest. Teyo's hand found their way into Mason's brown hair, tugging on it slightly, not to cause discomfort, but only arousal.

Teyo finally broke away from the kiss, slightly breathless, slightly sweaty, and very turned on. "Bedroom?"

Equally breathless, Mason could only nod. He took Teyo by the hand and led him back to his bedroom.

---

Sometime later, Mason roused and it took him a moment to realize he wasn't alone. The warm body next to him wasn't unwelcome, and it was pretty comfortable but... He sat up, now taking in the trail of clothes that led from the bathroom. "Wake up," he said, gently nudging the person next to him.

Teyo groaned loudly. It took him a moment or two to realise where exactly he was. He rolled over to face Mason and groaned again, burying his face in the soft pillow; it wasn't a dream.

"Yeah I know..." While not a telepath, or even remotely empathic in the Betazoid sense of the word, somehow Mason did understand how he feel. And still... even though every fibre of him screamed that this had been wrong, and despite feeling that he would regret this later... right now, he really didn't have any. He laid back down and reached to touch the man's face, gently brushing the side with the back of his fingers. "Do you want anything to eat?" he asked quietly, before glancing back at his bathroom. Maybe, he'd just go over to one of the other vacant quarters, and get clean there... later.

"No," Teyo said bluntly, edging away from the touch. It wasn't unpleasant, in fact, the complete opposite. "I'm okay," he added, a tad more softly not wanting to hurt Mason's feelings. He groaned again, internally this time. He and Mason had enjoyed tearing chunks out of each other at every opportunity, and now he didn't want to hurt the man's feelings. "I think you were right, I need to get up," Teyo said as he rose out of the bed and started putting on his clothes.

"I never said get up," Mason clarified, watching him get dressed, "but yeah... you probably should. Don't want you to get into trouble with the boss." Of all the things to happen, that was something he'd never do. He'd never rat out anyone. "How are you going to explain being late?"

"Oh damn, yeah. I didn't even consider that," Teyo replied as he tried to put his trousers on backwards. "Wait, I have an idea. Erm... I'm sorry about this."

Teyo disappeared into the bathroom leaving Mason waiting on the bed. There was a vague sound of tinkering, then a loud bang followed by the sound of sparks. Teyo reentered the room carrying a small component in his hand and a wide smile on his face.

"You're sorry...." Mason had no idea what Teyo was holding but he had the nagging feeling it wasn't going to be good. "What did you do?" He sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, grimacing a little. He was looking just a little too.. happy about it, whatever he'd done

"I accidentally," Teyo added air quote as best as he could whilst holding something in his hand, "replaced the relay into the ODN line instead of the shower one. It's actually an easy mistake to make, for a rookie, which I'm not!" He quickly added, not wanting Mason to think that he was bad at his job. 'So now you care what he thinks?' he couldn't help but think to himself, he shook the thought away. "Everyone down there doesn't see my genius anyway, so it won't be a hard lie to sell, no biggie."

"Right..." Mason shook his head. "So mister experience, how are you passing this off as a rookie mistake then, if clearly you're not one?" He stood and stretched a little, feeling like he'd been terribly out of shape despite being in excellent form. He picked up his clothes as well and started to get dressed. "I take it this..." He gestured between the two of them. "..this didn't happen?"

"They all see me as a rookie, so might as well act like one, if it suits my needs," Teyo said as he gathered the rest of things. "Don't worry, your shower will be done by midday tomorrow, you have my word," he added, knowing that Mason probably didn't think much of the Trill's word. Teyo laughed at the question, "I honestly don't care who you tell, I'm not ashamed of my conquests and there's no way you should be ashamed of this," he said as he pointed at his own body. "You do you, Mason."

Fortunately, Mason did consider someone's word to be of value and if Teyo gave his word it'd be fixed, then he trusted it'd be done. "So I'm a conquest.... good to know," he said instead. "Glad you don't seem to care about your reputation, but I do care about mine..." He paused, feeling very awkward. "I think you should go then... and I'll... go to one of the other quarters for now." He led the Trill towards the door and watched him leave. When he was gone, he sighed to himself, not really sure how exactly he felt right now but he was glad the Trill was gone.

 

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