Catching up

Posted on Thu Mar 14th, 2024 @ 3:21pm by Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea & Ensign Kateyo Fenn

Mission: Character Development
Location: Engineering
Timeline: After "Can I Help You?"
1682 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

As promised, Nayisa took the time to stay out of the way as she wandered around engineering, and she didn't touch anything. Her hands in her pockets, she wandered around the warp core, admiring the gentle thrum and the pulsing light. Her eyes briefly perused the various workstations, only briefly catching their purpose as she passed. The air was lively with engineers working on their tasks, and the atmosphere remained even as the silver-haired woman travelled to the upper level of engineering. Looking over the rail, she admired the view and decided that this was her favorite spot in engineering. Not only could she see just about everything, but the view from above made it seem like she was looking down at a city from atop a cliff.

It wasn't often that Teyo saw the intelligence officer in Engineering, actually, now he thought about it, this was the first time. She stood out like a guiding light in the deepest black of space; maybe it was her uniform's colour or hair. Or maybe it was her serene demeanour mixed with the chaotic coming and going of the other engineers. Whichever it was, he felt almost guilty breaking her reverie. "Slumming it with the real workers?" He asked, loud enough for her to hear him.

Nayisa admittedly was bummed to be taken out of the moment by a voice. However, that disappointment was easily replaced by recognition, and she turned to see none other than Kateyo Fenn. It was hardly a couple of weeks since they conversed over drinks, when he failed to charm her enough to continue night allegedly fixing appliances in his quarters. She had to commend him for his efforts, though. "Look who it is," she teased with a smirk. "Depends, are you actually fixing appliances this time?"

"You say it like it's a bad thing," Teyo replied as he moved closer to the railing. "You get to spend the night with me and get your replicator and sonic shower serviced, that's a three-for-one most people can't refuse. Even the Ferengi would marvel at that deal."

Turning back to the view below, Nayisa leaned over to casually rest her elbows on the rail. She chuckled at his attempt to get into her quarters. "That is a hell of a deal, but I don't typically get my appliances serviced on a first date."

"And there was me thinking that you liked living on the edge," Teyo replied. He moved next to her, his bum resting on the rail as he faced out towards her. "I'll give you some credit though, you're the first person who would rather spend the night in the brig rather than with me. Actually, Commander Keating would probably do much worse to escape me." He added, chuckling.

A gentle shake of her head was the response. "I dunno, Fenn, what put me in the brig was pretty 'living on the edge.' Topping that one might be a challenge." Nayisa gave a teasing shrug, "not that that's ever stopped you, according to your stories."

"I can beat it without getting out of bed," he said with a smirk. "Though, I'm trying to be more responsible these days. It's early days," he quickly added before she could laugh at his reformed character. "What happened? I heard you destroyed some chemical compound evidence for Kane which led to his acquittal?"

Nayisa snorted and shook her head. Of course rumors would make their rounds, there was no avoiding that. She knew Zade wanted to keep it under wraps, and she suspected that Zora and P'Rel probably didn't want the extra drama. It turned out that what Teyo heard was one of a couple rumors that accidentally got leaked, to help mask the truth. If the rumor's gonna spread, why not make it work in their favor? "Oh, is that what you heard?" She chuckled. "Did that one Ensign in ops tell you that? You know he's got a flair for the dramatic." Turning her head to look up at Teyo, she added, "it was a dumb dare, that's all. Messing with evidence would be a very risky and stupid move, especially during a high-stakes trial like Kane's."

"Actually I think it was one of the lab techs from sickbay," Teyo said, trying to think back to when he first heard the rumour. "Just pillow talk really, but you know those techies love to gossip, not much else happening in their world." He smiled encouragingly. For a reason unbeknown to him, he didn't want Wrea to think the whole ship was gossiping about her.

He was happy for the change of tone, he much preferred to keep things lighthearted. "Dares gone wrong, I know about those," he replied with a chuckle. "On our next date, I'll tell you about the shuttle I stole at the academy or the time I punched Xav's brother in the face, he deserved it," he quickly added, his arms held high in a defensive posture.

"Our next date, huh?" Nayisa poked, giving him a grin. "Careful, Romeo, or you might start planning our wedding before you know it." He generally seemed to tell the truth, even if he did exaggerate the details now and then, so she didn't mind the attention. Between the Zora-issued house arrest and P'Rel making her a liaison for the entire squadron, the amount of spare time Nayisa had was diminishing. She barely had time to work on her own side projects. It's why she hated promotions. "As intriguing as your stories are, my schedule is fairly busy nowadays. How does four weeks out sound?"

Teyo's eyes widened at the mention of marriage but he let the comment pass without verbalising how much the idea of that pained him. Instead, he massaged his rib as though her poke had caused him harm. "If you think you can last four weeks without all of this, then sure."

Nayisa gave him a teasing look of mocked tragedy. "It will be rough, but I think I can manage," she chuckled. The response to her mention of marriage was certainly not missed, but simply asking why it bothered him was too boring. She'd get the answer her own way, in time, though she could probably guess. Teyo didn't look or act like the guy to settle down. "So, what are you working on up here? Surely you didn't come up here just because you saw a cute Intelligence officer."

"Is Sam here?" Teyo asked as he pretended to look around the upper level. He wasn't quick enough to escape the backhand that came his way and this time it did hurt a bit. He flashed her a toothy grin as he rubbed the spot she had attacked. "I actually work here," he answered, "you're the intruder around these parts. In fact, maybe I should give your bestie a call, haul your butt back to the brig you're so fond of. Come to think about it, you didn't say why you were here?"

After Nayisa gave him a playful smack to the shoulder, she crossed her arms. He didn't need to know that Zade hadn't spoken to Nayisa since the arrest, so to call them besties wasn't quite accurate. It was a different story if he was referring to Zia, however. "I needed to ask your boss... bosses?... for help with some systems upgrades. And yes, I could have used the ticketing system you all have set up, but I actually haven't been in engineering yet, surprisingly. So I'm just perusing."

"Bosses," Teyo confirmed. "Chain of command, you know how it goes," he added with a little shrug. He didn't fully buy her explanation of why she was in Engineering but wasn't quite sure if that was because he didn't trust her or it was because she was an intel officer. "Sounds like you're snooping to me," he said, the grin barely masking the truth behind the comment. "What's that saying? Red gives direction, blue saves lives, gold gives protection, grey tells lies."

A cheeky little grin snuck onto Nayisa's lips at the suntle confession. He had no reason to trust her based off her job alone, she understood that. It was also amusing watching him come up with theories behind her presence in engineering. "I mean, you're not wrong. I am snooping, but I'm not touching anything." To emphasize the point, she shoved her hands into her pockets innocently and turned them out, revealing their emptiness. "Don't tell me you wouldn't jump at a chance to see all of the fancy stuff in the intel offices... same thing." She then gave him a wink, "if you don't believe me, you're welcome to pat me down sometime."

"Maybe I will... in four weeks or so," Teyo replied, his voice drenched in sarcasm. He waved his arm at her empty pockets as though shooing them away. "I don't care why you're here and I don't care if you are snooping. As long as you're not a saboteur then we're all good."

Admittedly, Nayisa was a little disappointed at the lack of response to her rather cheesy comment, it visible on her expression for just a moment. "My hands have been in my pockets the whole time, don't worry. As cool as it would be to manipulate computers with my mind, the tech doesn't exist, and if it did, my clearance wouldn't let me have it. So don't worry, your systems are safe."

"I'm glad," Teyo replied with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I should probably get back to work before one of the hammerheads throws me in the brig... and I wouldn't want to steal your thunder."

With another chuckle, Nayisa pushed herself away from the guard rail. "Hey, consider it like this: I broke it in for the next guy. See you around." With that, she gave a little wave before returning to the lift that would return her to the lower level.