Is It Me You're Looking For?

Posted on Wed Mar 23rd, 2022 @ 7:30pm by Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII & Lieutenant Didrea Zade
Edited on on Wed Mar 23rd, 2022 @ 7:37pm

Mission: Character Development
Location: Engineering
1184 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Zade stretched as she exited the turbolift to head to engineering. After her first day of finding Savin and the second day of helping with the space egg and the medical crew, she could use a drink. She remembered the offer for a drink by Finn and decided to take her up on it, leading to her current route to engineering.

Making her way into engineering, Zade looked around for the blonde woman. Since it was at the end of the duty shift, she was hoping she didn't miss the chief engineer. Spotting Finn, she walked over, only noticing that she was working on something when she got closer. She stopped a little behind Finn, watching her work for a moment. "What'cha working on?" she asked.

"Tuning the engine. Standard procedure," Finn said without looking up, unphased that someone had snuck up behind her. She had zoned in on the footsteps as Zade approached. A learned behavior from a childhood game that she and her best friend used to play called 'stay alert stay alive'. A fun, if not macabre game, that their fathers had taught them to learn to always be aware of their surroundings.

Zade paused for a moment before she moved into Finn's field of view, leaning against a nearby wall. She shoved her hands into her pockets and asked with a small smile, "you always tune the engine after your shift ends?" Of course, Zade knew it was not uncommon to see engineers working overtime on things. They always seemed to either lose track of time or be so engrossed in what they're doing that they have to finish the task.

"Yep," Finn glanced towards the curly haired security officer. "I like to leave everything in perfect shape before the next shift takes over," she shrugged. "Is there something I can help you with? Translator messed up again?"

"Translator's fine, but I suppose you could help me out with something... when you're done tuning the engine, of course." The Trill paused and looked up, pretending to think. "See, there's this engineer I was supposed to buy a drink for, provided I survive going to the surface."

"Oh? If it was someone on this shift then they might still be around. Might try checking over there," Finn pointed towards the opposite side of the room as she continued with her work, completely forgetting that the engineer of mention was her.

Zade raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to ask Finn if she forgot, then promptly shut it as an idea came to mind. A grin snuck onto her lips before she quickly composed herself. "Thanks, I'll take a look to see if she's around. She is on this shift, but she's probably tuning some system right now. I'll just look for someone deep in concentration." Zade pushed herself off the wall, giving the impression she was planning to walk off to go search for this mystery engineer.

"Oh!" A thought came to mind, suddenly remembering who Zade might be referring to. "There are a couple of engineers over there doing a tune-up on the primary drive coil. You might find her over there." Finn gave her a quick smile before fully returning her attention to the task at hand. "Good luck!"

Initially, Zade was relieved Finn looked like she remembered something, then the relief turned into surprise when Finn instead told her where to look... for Finn... in engineering. After Finn turned back around, the Trill stared in surprise for another moment before she covered her mouth with a hand as her shoulders started to tremble from holding in laughter. "Thanks," she squeaked out, thankful for once that her implant couldn't register the chuckle she knew would have otherwise slipped.

Playing along, Zade left Finn and walked in the direction she pointed until she knew she was out of Finn's sight. It was then that the hand covering her mouth moved up to her forehead, turning into a facepalm. Was she joking?? Zade thought, silently getting her giggles out.

"You alright, Lieutenant?" an engineer nearby asked.

"Oh, yeah," Zade replied, dropping her hand to look at him. Amusement was still very apparent on her expression. "I'm fine."

The engineer raised a brow at her amused expression, but otherwise nodded and went back to his duties. Zade took another moment to compose herself before deciding to head back to Finn. Time to put on the game face. "No such luck," she sighed, putting her hands back into her pockets. "It seems she was last seen over here, very recently too. Maybe you crossed paths with her?"

"Here?" Finn looked confused. "None of the other engineers have been here for a while. The last one here was George right before you arrived."

While her expression was serious, Zade's eyes were revealing her amusement at this whole scenario. "Hmm... well, maybe when you're done, you can help me find her."

A minute or so passed before Finn looked up. "Done!" She sighed and looked at the security officer, confused, unable to remember exactly what she was looking for. "What were you looking for again?"

"A certain engineer who's been in this area recently. She's got blonde hair, about your height..." The corners of Zade's mouth were attempting to betray her and curl into a smile, but she did her best to contain it. She leaned in slightly, "pretty sure she's spending too much time in engineering right now instead of accepting a drink with a security officer?"

Is it possible to spend too much time in engineering? She wondered. "Well," Finn shrugged, "I doubt anyone is left in here from my shift, but I'd be happy to get a drink with you if you'd like," she said, still clueless as to who Zade was truly there for.

Zade couldn't hold it anymore, and she let a close-lipped smirk spread across her face. While it was extremely amusing to watch this unfold, Zade knew she was at her limit and she couldn't hold it back for much longer. "Finn..." Zade shook her head, a little huff of air from her nose signaling a very contained start of a laugh. Her shoulders were trembling again from holding back laughter. "... Finn, you're the one I was looking for."

"Oh? Oh!" Finn's expression went from one of confusion to realization as a palm met her face. "Oh my God. From when you came to engineering the first time and I fixed your translator and then told you that you owed me a drink!" She chuckled. "I'm sorry, I just get so engrossed in what I'm doing in engineering that anything else just doesn't really get through."

Now that Finn got the joke, Zade let herself laugh. While her expression said it all, her signing of the word 'funny' was more out of habit than anything. "Don't worry about it, I know you engineers tend to get really invested in what you're doing," she replied with amusement. "Well, now that you're done tuning the engine, shall we?" Zade made a light gesture for the door with her hand.