The enemy of my enemy is my "friend"...

Posted on Sat Feb 11th, 2023 @ 5:02pm by Lieutenant Sturgis O'Connell & Ensign George Paxton & Ensign Kateyo Fenn

Mission: Character Development
1590 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

"Ensign Paxton." George heard his name in the morning briefing and prayed to any deity he could think of that his assignment would not include the jefferies tubes. "I need you to recalibrate the power flow to the impulse reactors." George's face fell as the words left Sturgis's mouth.

He wanted to be a good engineer, but his struggle with claustrophobia made any work in the jefferies tubes practically unbearable. Fortunately, Finn had recognized his weakness and helped him to avoid it. Even more, on the occasions when there hadn't been a choice, she had helped him to fight against it. Sturgis didn't seem to give off the same understanding and George was hesitant to complain to the new CEO, especially so early on. He would do his best to make it work, despite the fact that the idea of crawling in that tunnel of doom felt like a death sentence.

"Ensign Fenn," Sturgis called the name out, excited to see that the young man had decided to show up on time this go around. "The dilithium chamber needs a tune up and I'd like for you to run a few scenarios for me while you're at it. They'll help us to understand how certain actions factor into the efficiency of our warp cores."

Teyo simply nodded, "aye Sir." After being publically chastised the day before, he wasn't about to rock any boats with the new CEO, not yet at least. Besides, for once, his duty assignment was right in his wheelhouse. He was a propulsion specialist after all and it was nice to see that finally recognised, even if it was by O'Connell. Despite this, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for Pax, the guy was no good in tight spaces and everyone knew it, except the new guy apparently. Or maybe he did, and just didn't care? "Sir, maybe I should swap with Paxton?" He finally said, feeling uncharacteristically sympathetic today.

Sturgis tilted his head for just a moment. It was an unexpected move from the cocky ensign he had met the day before. He had known that Paxton was claustrophobic, a quick glance at his records had proven as much. He had hoped some time in the jefferies tubes might help him to overcome his fear. However, perhaps some sympathy from his crewmates would prove to foster team building. Then again, he didn't want swapping to become habit.

"You're welcome to help each other out, but you're ultimately responsible for the task assigned to you," the CEO replied. "You're all dismissed. Please come and see me if you have questions or need help."

George looked at Teyo, both filled with relief and confusion. He had never been outright enemies with him, but they'd never quite been friends either, so why had he requested to swap duties?

"Uhm, I think I can handle it on my own if you don't want to help out. The dilithium chamber task is a handful in its own right. I appreciate the thought though. I think," George said, still confused by Teyo's actions.

Teyo rolled his eyes. This was exactly why the pair weren't friends, Paxton was just too...nice, to the point it was simply annoying. "I'll help you with yours, you help me with mine," he said simply as he made his way to the service hatch. "Are you coming?" He called back.

George followed in behind him and instantly felt his chest tighten, but pushed forward, following Fenn down the tunnel. "Why are you doing this?" He asked as they arrived at their junction.

"He knows you're claustrophobic," Teyo said, ignoring the question. "Don't you think it's messed up that he assigned you this task? Outside of an emergency situation, there's no need for you to be in here."

"Do you really think he knew?" George asked, never being the one to think ill of someone without proof. If he did know, then perhaps there was a good reason, though he couldn't think of any as a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead.

"Do you not?" Teyo asked, incredulously. He stopped at a junction and logged into one of the panels. He pulled up the impulse reactor schematics and pressed a few buttons before turning back to George. "Please tell me you're not that naive?" Though as the words left his mouth he knew the answer. He then noticed all of the sweat running down Paxton's face. "Seriously, I've got this, go back to engineering."

"No," George mustered up some courage. "This is my responsibility. I should at least help. I'll adjust the power flows through primary EPS conduits, you take the secondary ones. At least it won't take too long," he said as he opened up another set of schematics on the nearby panel. "I take it you aren't a fan of the new CEO then?" George asked, trying to maintain the flow of conversation. Distractions always helped to keep his mind off of the walls closing in around them.

Teyo rolled his eyes but did as he was instructed. His funeral he thought. He snorted at Paxton's question. "I'm sure you have noticed by now that I have somewhat of an issue with authority types," he added as he continued to check the secondary power flow. "O'Connell is just another figurehead with the same small D energy, nothing I can't deal with. Question is, what are you going to do?"

"What can I do? I am an engineer, I should be able to work in the jefferies tubes like everyone else, its just," panic started to set in and the walls started to creep in. "It just makes me nervous...is it not hot in here to you?" He tugged on the collar of his uniform. Normally the clothing felt comfortable and light, but now it felt like it was suffocating him.

"No, it is me," Teyo smirked. He noticed that Paxton didn't get the joke and rolled his eyes again. Seriously, this guy! "I'm the hot one, because you know...forget it. Maybe you need to go and see Savin, get a sicknote or something."

It was George's turn to roll his eyes. Does he ever not think about himself? He wondered. "It's fine. It's fine. I can do it. We're almost done anyway." George focused back on the task at hand and picked the conversation back up. "So anyone new on your radar these days?"

Teyo turned back to the panel he was working on, too frustrated to even try and help Paxton. He was such a wimp, Teyo wasn't sure how he had made it through the academy. Let him suffer. "Only Mason," he replied, keeping his voice even.

George whipped his head around to look at Teyo and scowled. "Here I thought maybe you said you'd help to be nice, but I can see that's not the case. Did you just volunteer so you could get under my skin?"

"But you don't want my help," Teyo said angrily as he turned to face the human, "you don't want anybody's help. You won't stand up for yourself, you won't seek help, hell I'm not even sure if you admit you have a problem. This isn't just going to go away George, it's a serious condition and I felt sorry for you. I won't bother next time."

George sighed. Teyo had volunteered to help and he had been a jerk to him. Not that he didn't deserve it, Teyo always did have a very strange way of showing any sort of empathy, but George knew he could have done better. "Fenn, wait. I'm sorry...Thanks for helping me out. It means a lot." George sat back on his heels and continued his work. "But why do you do it? Why do you purposely antagonize people? We had a good thing going for a minute there. You knew that answer would rile me up. So why did you say it?" He asked, hoping to glean some sort of insight into Teyo's inner workings.

"It was a joke," Teyo said defensively. "You're so tightly wound it's amazing you haven't exploded yet." He continued doing what he was doing and then sighed, heavily. "I don't purposely antagonise people, okay I do," he quickly added before Paxton could interject. "You know, you and Mason are perfect for each other. Dash and I we're pranksters, jokers. We like to have silly fun, but you and Mase are so serious."

"I like to have fun too you know. I just like to stay in line while I'm on duty and I don't like to hurt people's feelings. You can have fun without doing that you know," George chuckled. "For example," he pressed a few buttons on his console and crossed a wire over, intentionally sending a small feedback current into Teyo's junction. Not enough to do any damage, just enough to see a few sparks fly and catch the other ensign off guard.

The shock caught Teyo off guard, he toppled off of his haunches and fell on his backside on the cold, metallic grate of the jeffries tube. He finally got back up and turned to face Paxton, a dark look in his eyes. "I beg to differ, that one definitely hurt my feelings." He broke out into a wide grin and threw a hypospanner at the other engineer. "Keep that up and I may actually start to like you."