Resolving Rivalries

Posted on Sun May 29th, 2022 @ 7:32pm by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena
Timeline: Backpost (before Aries Ascending, after "Some Uncomfortable Conversations")
1396 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

"Well, that was uncomfortable," Zade quietly said to herself, leaning against her desk and staring up at the ceiling. Her hands were flat on the desk and slightly behind her, supporting her lean. She had just finished talking to Kevan and Mason, leaving her with a lot to process. Between Kevan being understandably defensive but acting on it and having an awkward talk with Mason, her mental energy took a hell of a blow.

Her work wasn't over, though. Zade still wanted to talk to Finn about what happened, and she wasn't sure how to feel about that either. Pushing herself off the desk, she placed the empty tea mug back into the replicator before she tapped her badge. "Zade to Keating," she said, sounding a little worn out. "Can you spare a few minutes for a chat? I could use a break from my office, so perhaps in the form of a walk?" What she didn't say was that there was so much emotional tension in her office right now that it felt like she was suffocating. It was worse than the humidity from Academy locker rooms.

Finn looked at the time. It was an hour before her shift ended, but then again, she had every intention of working an extra shift anyway, with so little time left before reaching Rondac. Suddenly strange noises began to emanate from her middle section Did I skip lunch? She wondered, thinking back to the last time she ate, which happened to have been the night before. Although she'd have loved to meet in the mess hall and grab a decent meal, Finn had the feeling that this conversation required a more private setting.

"Meet me on deck twelve in fifteen minutes, it's a good quiet place for a walk," Finn replied as the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she selected from the replicator appeared. She took a large bite to quell the monster residing in her stomach and smiled at the familiar taste. How long had it been since she'd had one of these?

"Copy." After the call ended, Zade returned her stare to the ceiling for another minute before pulling herself together to leave the office, grabbing a PADD on the way out. She knew fifteen minutes was a long time from now, but she couldn't be in that office anymore. As she walked to the turbolift, she began taking notes on points she wanted to discuss with Finn. She could feel eyes on her as she passed, and when she looked up she saw two crewmates quickly avert their gaze in a poor attempt to make it seem as if they weren't staring at her and gossiping. Hoping to try and relieve this unwanted tension, Zade gave them a small inviting smile. She didn't like the looks they gave her, the ones that held fear and perhaps a little pity. It was the same look she'd get sometimes during the Academy, especially on days when she was feeling more resentment than usual.

After a couple minutes, Zade found herself on deck twelve. Realizing that Finn hadn't specified any particular location to meet on deck 12, the Trill opted to wait near the turbolift, leaning into the wall as she typed away on the PADD.

Finn stuffed the last bite of her PB&J down as she turned the corner on deck twelve, noticing Zade leaning against the wall. "Hey," the words were muffled as she finished chewing. "Sorry about that, finishing a sandwich." Finn smiled and took a sip of her coffee to wash everything down. "You wanted to talk?"

Glancing up, Zade watched the woman approach, noticing a couple of crumbs on the corner of her mouth. "It is that time of day for food," she shrugged, using a hand to make a wiping motion against her own lips, mirroring the side the crumbs were on. Zade looked about as worn out as she had sounded over comms; her shoulders were slightly slumped, and she had that look in her eye that said she really wanted this day to end. Exactly what to expect after endless meetings. Despite the exhaustion, though, Zade maintained her professionalism, or enough of it anyways.

Pushing herself off the wall, the Trill offered Finn a silent invitation to walk with her with an open hand. "I heard about what happened the other day between you, Ensign Fenn, and a couple of my security officers. I spoke with Lieutenant Dash and Chief Malone about the incident, but I still want to give you a formal apology on behalf of the security department."

Finn's response was a look of bewilderment. "What? You realize your boys weren't the problem right? Ensign Fenn was the issue. He's a bit of a troublemaker, but from what I've heard, you already knew that." She paused for a second, trying to get a read on Zade. It was clear that the security officer had lost some of the spring in her step. Was this the issue that was weighing her down or was it something else? Finn wondered. "However, I have talked to Fenn about the issue in the bar. It shouldn't happen again."

A slight grimace crept onto Zade's expression as she was yet again metaphorically slapped in the face by the memory of the fight with Fenn. "Yeah, I'm familiar with the Ensign's... personality," she replied, trying her best to stay neutral. Despite her feelings against Fenn, Zade knew it wasn't the time. "Regardless of whose fault it was, I care about the impression people have of the department."

"Well, I have nothing but the best impression. Everyone I've interacted with in your department has performed their job exceptionally well," Finn smiled. "Look, these things happen. It wasn't a great moment for either of our departments, but yours was certainly less to blame than mine. No need to apologize. Hell, maybe we could do with some sort of joint department team building exercise to bring everyone back together." She casually threw out the idea, not thinking anything of it yet perhaps it was what both departments needed.

The seriousness on Zade's expression eased up a little as she returned Finn's smile with a slight one of her own. "Might want to let the tension between your people and mine die out a little before encouraging any synergy. If there's one thing that can push people apart, it's forcing collaboration."

"Forced collaboration can also bring people together, but in this case, you're probably right. We'll table it for the future. With the exception of the most recent fiasco...How are you finding the new job?" Finn asked, curious as to how the security officer was adjusting. With all of the drama surrounding personnel in security, and engineering, it was sure to be a rough start.

"Mixed feelings," the Trill replied with a shrug. "This is my first time as a department head, so I'm trying to navigate that. Karav, the security chief of the Colossal, helped me prepare for the role, but I didn't anticipate being thrown into the middle of things." In all honesty, Zade wasn't even expecting to take over the department. Finding out that there was no security chief and having to work with that was jarring, especially out where they were. "Otherwise, I think it's been manageable."

"Want to know a secret?" Finn asked though the information she revealed could've been found in her personnel report. "I haven't been a department head that long either. I'm sure it's obvious by how well I can keep Fenn in line," she half chuckled. "I'm sure you'll find your way. I'm still learning myself."

Zade gave Finn a smile. "Yeah, this whole thing is pretty new to me. But good to know I'm not the only one." It did ease some of her stress to know that if she was having problems, at least Finn might be able to relate. As they passed a wall panel, Zade caught the time and subtly redirected their stroll to the turbolifts. "Well, it's officially the end of our shift. Thanks for indulging the walk, it helped." Now that they were technically off duty, Zade put the stresses of the job to the back of her mind, but there was one more thing she wanted to get done before the called it a day.