I See You're As Annoying As Ever

Posted on Tue Nov 26th, 2024 @ 6:16pm by Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea & Commander N'Garzi Zora

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena
Timeline: MD3
2734 words - 5.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Once the news of other ships in the squadron joining the Athena got around, Nayisa was quick to send an invitation. It had been... was it really about three years now? A part of Nayisa was nervous and almost giddy to see him in person, as they had only communicated through secure channels and messages after she went to a different ship. In transporter room 1, she stood in jeans and a mid-sleeve shirt, unable to keep the stupid grin off her face. She told him to dress sharp, making up some story about impressions on a flagship, and couldn't wait to see what he picked out and how he'd respond to her prank.

The transporter chief looked up from the console. "I got confirmation that the Lieutenant is ready for transport," he reported.

Nayisa turned to the chief and gave a nod. "Go ahead, then." Quickly turning her attention back to the transporter pad, she waited as shimmering blue light danced over one of the nodes, the shape of a humanoid starting to appear.

As the Athena transporter room came into focus, Darin looked around for the silver hair he hadn't seen in over three years. Actually, it wasn't the hair he was focused on, it was her face, well... her expression. He stood on the pad in simple black trousers and a fitted long-sleeved white t-shirt; far from the sharply dressed outfit she had expected him to wear. He caught her eye just in time to see a flicker of disappointment, but like the pro that she was, that was all that she allowed him to see, a flicker before she checked herself. "I see you made Lieutenant, again."

Seeing that the one and only Darin Karson didn't fall for the prank, Nayisa's smirk faltered slightly. Given what she knew about the fellow intel officer, she wasn't that surprised, knowing he probably used his skills to see through her story. She didn't invite him just for the prank however, so she didn't let her disappointment linger. "Maybe it will last this time," she said with a joking undertone. There had been at least two prior conversations between them where Nayisa expressed why she stayed at lower ranks, and they often agreed to disagree in the end. While staying at a lower rank helped her go unnoticed, it was a bookkeeping nightmare for the ones who managed Project Mosaic, who she referred to simply as 'the Fives'. Glancing to the orange hair that now lined his jaw, she added, "I see you're trying the beard again."

Darin shrugged slightly as he stepped down from the transporter pad. "I needed to look older for my last mission, I liked it so I decided to keep it. It's distinguished don't you think?" He asked as he stroked his chin between his forefinger and thumb. "It really makes my eyes pop."

"Oh, so distinguished," Nayisa teased with a grin. Darin could absolutely pull off the beard, she just liked to give him a hard time. "It gives me an advantage in a friendly spar, time permitting. Come on, I promised lunch with a view." Leading the way out of the transporter room, the two headed for the mess hall. "So, new ship. Tell me all about it."

"The Spruance? She's okay," Darin said as he fell into step with his friend. "You know how it is, a ship is only as good as her crew, but us types try to keep the crew at arm's length so that's a balance." He gave a sad grin but not sure if he truly felt sad about that fact or if he was just expected to feel sad. "You must be doing okay if you conned your way to LJG?"

Despite the gross optimism she put out, Nayisa understood where he was coming from. She knew enough about the crew, but the only people she really knew enough to consider friends aside from Didrea were Nic, Zia, and Teyo, but even then those friendships were superficial. A little smirk crept across her lips at his choice of words. "Yeah, I'm doing alright. The promotion comes with a hell of a story. This ship seems to run into fewer problems than the Pioneer, which I find somewhat surprising."

"I'm willing to bet that this ship's problems increased when you came on board," Darin said as he flashed his friend a smile and a friendly shoulder bump. "I love a good promotion story," he continued as they entered the turbolift. "I can't wait to hear it. Then I'll tell you about my misadventures with a particular Bolian smugger."

The shoulder bump was returned with a chuckle before Nayisa playfully punched him back. "You got a deal."

The walk to the mess hall was short, only a one-deck turbolift ride from the transporter room. It was busy, but not packed, and as the silver-haired woman expected, her spot by the window was unoccupied. Near the kitchen, some food had been prepared, and a couple minutes passed as they waited in the short line to get their own plates of the freshly cooked food.

Thankfully, Nayisa's unofficially 'Official Table' was still unclaimed, so she put her plate on the table and took a seat. She let Darin have her usual chair, which blessed the occupier with the perfect people watching spot in the entire mess hall. "Ok, so. Story sharing first, or news first?" she asked him.

Darin looked around the busy mess hall. Did she really want to talk business here, when there surely were quieter areas of the ship? He shrugged slightly as he tucked into his food. "Both," he replied, his mouth full of mashed potatoes and gravy. He knew they could switch between the mundane and the critical with an ease that only came with knowing someone for a long time and understanding the unspoken words more than the spoken ones. "Tell me everything," he continued after he had swallowed his food.

Of course he would leave it up to her to pick one to start with. Well, the 'news' was more important anyways, it was why she invited him to lunch. "Alright," Nayisa said, picking at her food with her fork. "To start off, I heard Kendall's dog got loose again. Apparently this is the third time, and the dog completely shattered that antique of his." The 'Kendall' in question was Lieutenant Kenneth Mueller, a SIGINT on Deep Space 3. His specialty was decoding signals and intercepting communications traffic to try and identify information that could be useful for their project. His position at a space station gave him insight to a lot of activity. Nayisa's words weren't about a dog, rather they conveyed a different meaning:

I got word that Mueller is enforcing contingency three.

Darin moved some food around on his plate with his fork in a very nonchalant way. Outwardly he wasn't listening to Nayisa or he wasn't very interested in what she had to say. Inwardly his brain was working overdrive. "That antique was hideous anyway," he said with a snort right before loading his mouth with food again. If Mueller was enforcing contingency three that meant someone was on to him, again. Breaking contact was the only way to safeguard everyone else in the project. He swallowed his food with a gulp and washed it down with his water. "Kendall has a lot of noisy neighbours, do you know which ones are helping him find that damn dog this time?" He asked. Who is surveilling Mueller?

Nayisa grinned a little at the comment about the antique. Being on a station, Meuller was usually more careful because it was a high-traffic area. It did make him susceptible to things like this, however, and this was the second time this year. While it wasn't a requirement to change the security protocol for this contingency, it was usually done anyways in case whoever was watching one of their collaborators ever did catch the details of their project. As often as she pitched that to the Fives, it remained merely a suggestion. "He's been rather occupied, you know, finding his dog on a space station, but last time Devin's wife helped. I wouldn't be surprised if he reached out to her again. At least Kendall knows how his dog thinks."

Unknown, but last time it was one of Darius' accomplices so it's likely a similar situation. At least Mueller knows what to look for.

Darin tapped his fork on his plate, playing along to a mystery song only he could hear. He watched as a fleck of mashed potato flew off it and landed on the table, halfway between him and Nay. "Has he checked where the dog was last time?" He asked as he wiped up the splattered mash with his napkin. "They often retrace their steps."

Has he checked the culprit from last time, could it be the same person?

The response was a casual shrug as Nayisa scooped another mouthful of food, watching him wipe up the mashed potato bit. "This is Doc Scootin' we're talking about," she pointed out. The name of the dog was merely a reference to the space station itself, and an emphasis on how massive --and therefore how busy-- it was. "The dog's very smart, but so is Kendall. I'm sure the previous hiding spots are the first on his list to check, but he's gotta come up with a new way to catch his dog."

It's possible. It would be the first thing Kenneth would check, but he has to be careful to not expose the project.

"Okay," Darin said as he pushed his plate away from him with a defeated sign. He leaned back in his seat and rubbed his hand over his stomach. "It sounds like Kendall has it all under control. If he loses the dog again though we're going to have to take it away from him."

They both knew the implications of kicking Mueller off the project. Mueller and his position on DS3 made him a valuable source of information, and it could set the project back months if they lost him. This wasn't his first rodeo, however, and he knew what to do. All they could do in the interim was wait. Nayisa gave a nod as she finished her food, her pace behind Darin's due to her chatting, but soon enough she finished as well. "So I guess that was the news. Now that promotion story," she said with a grin.

"Wait, wait, I'm listening," Darin said as he jumped up from his chair so quickly he nearly fell out of it. He half-jogged, half-skipped off but was back within no time carrying two plates of Risan rainbow cake in his hands. Throwing himself back on his seat, he slid one of the plates over to Nay. "Go!" He said as he took a mouthful of the creamy frosting.

Nayisa then recalled the events of the trial, where she talked to P'Rel, convinced Athena's chief of security to help her get the evidence that supported Kane's innocence, spent a few nights in the brig, and then received a wrist slap from the first officer. "Then almost immediately after that, I got a new pip and the pleasure of liaison work in the squadron, aka more desk work," she concluded, her grimace taking on a hint of mockery. She then snorted, "Oh, and a month of restricted duty. Can you believe that?"

"Yes," Darin replied bluntly. He used his fork to scrape the remaining crumbs from the plate and then threw it on the table. He considered licking the plate but he decided he better not. "I'm all for breaking the rules but if you're stupid enough to get caught then you gotta deal with the consequences. I can't believe that's how you got promoted."

A snort came from the silver-haired woman as she dug in to the Risian rainbow cake. Stupid enough to get caught. If Nayisa hadn't slipped and mentioned Earth when she was trying to deter Didrea from arresting her, she could have gotten away with it. That Ensign that was with her, Iska, should have kept his mouth shut. "We got the job done, though, which is what matters," she said through a mouthful of cake. "I told Didrea to let it go but she's such a stickler for the rules and practically threw a fit after she got such minuscule exposure to what we do." Nayisa chuckled to herself, then waved her fork in dismissal. "Whatever, it's not my first rodeo. I hate the new pip, though, too much exposure."

"I think you're scared of it," Darin said as he casually leaned back in his seat. He contemplated getting some more cake and might have done so if Nayisa hadn't been shooting him daggers at that very moment. "Don't give me that look, it's true. You're scared of responsibility and a little more work. Ensigns can't make real changes, hell neither can LTJG's but it's a step in the right direction and only a fool would sabotage themselves, again."

It was one thing to call her scared, but to call her a fool, too? It took a lot to drop Nayisa's optimistic persona, and Darin was one of the few who knew precisely how to do it. "You're full of it, Darin. I'm not scared of a promotion, nor do I sabotage," she responded, crossing her arms defensively. "Each new rank gets more paperwork and more visibility, but it's ultimately just bureaucratic symbolism. Rank doesn't get the job done, experience does." It was no secret between them that almost every one of Nayisa's demotions followed a mission where she ended up skirting protocol to ensure the mission was a success. "Besides," she added, dropping her volume slightly, "you-know-what only exists because I --a junior grade at the time, might I add-- convinced the right people to go convince the right people to dedicate resources to it."

"And how much easier would that have been if you had been a higher rank?" Darin asked, now leaning forward and matching Nay's hushed tones. He loved his friend but she was wasted potential and someone had to tell her and if that someone was going to be him then so be it. "Call it what you want," he continued now back to his original volume. "I'm just calling it as I see it, Lieutenant." He smiled at the emphasis on the word, knowing it would irk her.

Nayisa didn't need to speak when a swift kick to his shin conveyed the same message.

"OW!" Darin said as he jerked his leg away. He looked her in the eyes knowing full well that he had deserved that kick. Hell, he had pretty much asked for it. That didn't mean he was going to let her get away with it though. "If you're going to degrade yourself with petty attacks instead of using your words, you may as well swap that grey uniform for a gold one. Become a phaser-wielding knuckle dragger like the rest of the grunts."

Despite the primary pain point in their friendship being the topic of rank, Nayisa couldn't stay mad at him, and a grin slid across her lips. "Use your words... that sounds like something I told your mom last night. She wouldn't be able to resist me if I switched to gold," she teased with a wink. That counted as using her words, right? "Besides, we both know how particular security is about doing things a certain way. I'd get the boot within a week."

Darin rolled his eyes at Nayisa's retort. "You really are a knuckle dragger," he replied, struggling to keep the smirk from his lips. "You know, if you had aimed a little higher I wouldn't be thinking about more rainbow cake right now, but alas I am. So how about we get some more and then you can show me around this ship of yours?"

Nayisa chuckled, glad to see that he still put up with her. "Next slices are on me!"