Not Tonight

Posted on Fri Jun 23rd, 2023 @ 11:29am by Ensign George Paxton & Senior Chief Petty Officer Mason Malone

Mission: Character Development
Location: Mason and George's respective quarters
Timeline: Prior to module missions
1435 words - 2.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Utterly exhausted from a long and almost double shift, Mason sauntered into his own quarters. Right now there was really only one thing he wanted, well two, maybe: food, and sleep. The latter moreso than the first. He nearly tripped over Merlin as he walked in, cursing under his breath as the cat shot away, hissing loudly. He tossed his PADD onto his desk and went straight for the shower.

He sighed as he stepped into the booth, taking a few minutes longer to allow himself to relax. When he was done, he all but beelined for the bed and flopped down onto it, closing his eyes.

George finished making dinner, but Mason had yet to arrive. They had planned on dinner together, right? He wondered if he'd gotten the date wrong. It had been a long day in engineering, so it was entirely possible that he'd gotten it wrong. He picked up the PADD and checked his messages, but he hadn't been wrong.

"Computer, locate Mason Malone," he said. George's features twisted into confusion as the computer spat back that his date was in his own quarters. "Paxton to Malone, is everything ok?" He reached out through the comm system. Something had to be wrong, it wasn't like Mason to miss dinner.

The sound of his name startled Mason awake. Disoriented, he sat up and fumbled for his comm badge. "What is it George?" He asked, not even sure how long he'd been sleeping now. "What time is it?"

"Dinner time?" George said. "I thought we agreed to dinner tonight. Is everything ok over there? You sound like you've just woken up from a coma."

Dinner? Mason flopped back onto the bed, groaning under his breath. "I fell asleep," he confessed, "and I'm...not dressed for dinner. I'm going to have to cancel tonight, I don't think I can make it."

"Oh," George's voice was flat with a clear undertone of disappointment. "I already made it, but I guess I can just recycle it to the replicator. Is everything ok? Not like you to fall asleep and not send some heads up that you won't be by."

Mason closed his eyes. "Long day," he answered, very aware of the disappointment in his partner's voice. In truth, he had forgotten about dinner and had just gone home on automatic pilot. "Maybe we can reheat it another time," he suggested, knowing George had a fridge, of sorts. "Just...not tonight. I won't be good company."

"You're always good company Mason, but it's ok, I understand. Anything I can help with? If not I'll let you go."

"I'm not in a good mood George, I'm very tired." Mason sounded like he was on the verge of annoyance. "I'll swing by later, probably tomorrow."

"Ok," George said, getting just slightly defensive. He had only wanted to help. "Have a good night then, Mason. See you tomorrow, or whenever you're up for it."

"Fine," Mason snapped back, cutting the channel abruptly. He stared at the ceiling a long time, not quite sure what had just happened. He felt a small weight on his chest, and he twisted to see Merlin curled up. "Well that's a first," he muttered under his breath.

George looked at his combadge, utterly shocked and a little disappointed at Mason's behavior. Clearly, something was bothering him, but he didn't want to talk. Well, that was just fine with George. If he didn't want to talk, they didn't have to. He cleaned up the extras for dinner, recycling them to the replicator, and then turned in for the night. As he fell asleep, he eyed the drawer that he had given Mason and wondered if perhaps he had given away some of his scared space too soon.

In the morning, Mason pushed the still snoring cat aside, earning him an angry hiss and a clawed swipe at his bare arm. Realizing he wasn't in any way dressed as he got up, he was glad there hadn't been some kind of emergency during the night. He quickly pulled on a fresh uniform the headed over to George's. He still had plenty of time before his shift started though he wasn't entirely sure if his partner would be up yet.

When he walked in, the room was still dark. Deciding not to wake him, Mason just eased himself on the couch and waited.

George stirred from his slumber not long after and ordered the lights to fifty percent brightness. He then popped out of bed, with his usual chipper morning demeanor, and headed towards the sonic shower. Mason's presence on the couch startled him slightly, but the moment he realized who it was, he just shrugged and continued on to the shower. He had no desire to deal with the type of rudeness he had dealt with the night before over the comms.

Hearing the shower cycle up, Mason went over to the replicator and ordered breakfast for two, then carried it over to the table. He didn't have a hell of a lot of time before his shift would start and he knew his boss wouldn't like it if he were late. He said nothing as George emerged, simply pushed the plate and coffee towards him.

"I'm not really in the mood for breakfast," George ignored the plate as he finished adorning his uniform. "If you stopped by to grab something from your drawer, feel free to grab it. I'm headed out to work."

"There's nothing here that I can't replicate in my own quarters," Mason shot back, almost instantly regretting his words, "but I guess I shouldn't have bothered to swing by. I don't know why I bothered anyway...."

"What is wrong with you?" George had finally had enough. It was one thing to be rude over the com line, but to come into his own quarters and act like that? It was unacceptable. "You were rude last night and now you're acting like a child. What did I do to you to deserve this?" He asked.

For several seconds, Mason said nothing, having no recollection of being rude at any time the prior evening. But then he'd been too tired to even remember they had a dinner date. "I suppose you never have an off day? I ran two shifts back to back yesterday, and I fell asleep almost as soon as I got home ." He stood, moving to recycle the food that apparently wasn't going to get eaten.

"I've had plenty of off days, Mason. You know that. You've seen them. But I try not to close myself off and ignore others when I do. It would be one thing if we were just acquaintances, but we're partners. I at least expect to be treated with respect, even when you have an off day," George replied matter-of-factly.

"I fell asleep," Mason answered curtly, "I don't think I was disrespectful." He stood in the middle of the room as he spoke, turning to head towards the door. "And you could have come to check on me you know.... you have access to my quarters. I'm always here, you rarely come to me."

"Come check on you? You sounded like you wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. I spent time and energy making dinner and you didn't call to tell me you wouldn't make it and then when I called to make sure you were alright, you blew me off with no explanations other than you were in a bad mood," George said, completing baffled with his partner. "That was supposed to be a hint to come over?"

Mason paused, feeling terrible as he looked back at George, "maybe...." He sat back down, sighing to himself. "I'll never want nothing to do with you love... I was just exhausted and I forgot about dinner. I'm sorry...."

George sighed, utterly frustrated with the back and forth between last night and this morning. He looked at the time. "We're both going to be late for our shifts. We'll have to deal with this later," he said as he shook his head and marched straight out the door without another word. He felt a twinge of regret as he moved down the hall, but pushed the feelings aside. Sturgis didn't tolerate lateness and his claustrophobia had already put him on the CEO's bad list, he didn't have the time nor the emotional space to deal with a relationship problem this morning.

A look of sadness crossed his features as he watched his partner go. Mason slowly got to his feet and made his way to the security offices.