JP: Ens. Talia Ohnari + Ens. Nolen Hobart — Shoring Up, Part I
Roxanna Dorion
((Interior, Sickbay, Deck 3, USS Arrow, Freecloud Orbit))
Talia was late. She was supposed to get off the ship and enjoy her leave. Except she had been distracted earlier checking on a few samples, and then dove headfirst into fixing the mess that was the Hypo cabinet.
As the doors parted, Nolen was surprised to see anyone in Sickbay. And then realized he shouldn’t have been. A skeleton crew had been left aboard amidst shoreleave (in addition to whomever was catching rack time to recover from… whatever was happening below) and that would have inevitably included the Medical department.
He smiled at Ohnari, and waited quietly for her to notice his presence. But eventually the two of them standing in the room saying nothing got too awkward for him to bear. He shrugged as much as he could without risking all the equipment he carried, and called out to her.
Hobart: Hey, wubber, don’t mean to startle. Drew the short straw?
After the events that quite literally shook up Sickbay, she was taking the necessary steps to make sure everything was in stock in the right place. So absorbed in her task, she jumped about a foot and let out a very unprofessional squeak at the greeting.
Breathing a little quickly, her hand clutching various hypo, she turned.
Ohnari: We're going to pretend I totally knew you were there and those last five seconds didn't happen. ::she relaxed a bit:: no short straws, just had a few things to finish up. You look….encumbered. You lose a bet or something?
He carried a large toolkit into the room, as well as a handful of portable lights, and set them down on one of the many empty biobeds.
Hobart: All this? Naw, I volunteered to be boring. ::playful wink:: Too much work to be done.
With that, her brow raised a bit. She knew he was dedicated, but no one was that dedicated.
Ohnari: You're going to work through all of leave then…? ::brightening:: Oh! Are you here to bolt down absolutely everything that can be??
She was bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation of his answer. After being buried in a mountain of filing cabinets, and dislocating her shoulder for her troubles, she was not interested in that happening again.
As she spoke, he looked around at the myriad cabinets and equipment that lined the walls, some of them fixed in place, and others just standing there lazily, assuming the artificial gravity would always work the way it was supposed to. And Talia had such bubbly hope that he couldn't bear to burst it.
Hobart: ::hesitating, unconvincingly:: Uhhh… yeah! That is exactly why I came.
He tapped his toe lightly on the floor, his head turned slightly so his ear could catch the sound, searching for something in particular. After each tap, he made an unsatisfied face and repositioned. Looking something like a featherless bird-of-paradise putting on a strange dance, his course conspicuously took him near not a single one of the unsecured stowages.
Ohnari: Um…what are you doing? I promise the flooring is stable…
While she didn't know the man that well, she was entirely at a loss for what he had been doing. He seemed on edge…which means edgier than normal, as he always seemed to be on a precarious level of stable. Maybe he imbibed a touch too much coffee?
Hobart: Well, you know, I figured while I was here ::tapping:: …I could also rip out and replace ::tapping:: …the primary power junction ::tapping, smiling:: …located right here!
Pleased with himself at finding the thing, Ensign Hobart turned and grinned at Ensign Ohnari, who did not seem to share his enthusiasm.
Ohnari: Because that will do…what exactly?
Alright. Something was…off. Did she make him that nervous? Their initial meeting had him scuttling away from her after she had somehow offended him by glaring at her champagne. Now he was offering to gut the entire Sickbay to avoid…leave?
Ensign Hobart stooped to search the seams of the Sickbay deck-plating, looking for a lift-notch.
Hobart: Because that will increase flow efficiency and stability, reduce system failures, and— ::pausing to wedge a finger in the aforementioned notch:: …hopefully reduce the number of patients that come to you as a result of ‘splodey consoles.
With a small grunt, Nolen lifted the edge and tipped the deck plate up. Trying (and failing) to ignore the crispy pins and needles of Ohnari’s growing suspicions, he felt his neck turn red of embarrassment. He gave her a sheepish look as he stood and gripped the large slab of metal.
Hobart: ::nervous chuckle:: Great, right?
Her arms were crossed at her chest, and her brow was decidedly arched. No one, and she had known a lot of someone's, no one was this dedicated.
Ohnari: And you're doing this, all during your personal time, when everyone is on leave and off the ship. Do we all smell bad or something?
Absent-mindedly, she sniffed her uniform to make sure. It smelled fine, freshly replicated this morning. Plus, when one worked with a smorgasbord of infectious materials, showering was second nature.
Hobart: No! No, you smell great. ::pause, eyes widened:: I assume. Not that— well, I mean— ::blurting:: I actually just prefer an empty ship!
Ohnari: Empty ship…?
He shrugged, and carried the plate to an empty section of wall. He set it down, first against the floor and then leaning against the bulkhead, with such care that it might have been mistaken for a fine ceramic urn.
Hobart: It's, uh, quieter. ::returning to the new hole in the floor, gripping an adjacent plate:: Not so many minds. ::quickly covering:: Or feet! Gotta tear up half the decking on the ship. And Freecloud? ::whistles, then lifts:: Bad enough from up here. I wouldn't go down even if I didn't have this to keep me busy. Sort of win-win!
Ohnari: I see…
And she meant it. While not telepathically inclined, her species were empathic. And she could sense a wave of discomfort radiating off of the engineer with the intensity of one of those "splody consoles" he had previously mentioned.
The engineer repeated his process of tilting, lifting, and stacking sections of floor against the wall until there was a sizeable trench running through Sickbay. It was then that he went to his oversized toolkit on the biobed.
Hobart: Doesn't bother you?
Ohnari: ::tilting her head:: Does what bother me?
Although she had an idea of what he would say.
He fiddled with a tricorder, glancing up at her.
Hobart: ::gesturing at head:: The noise. A whole planet of intense feelings—excitement, regret, excitement that turns into regret—just a thousand kilometers below us?
Ohnari: It can…but I am pretty good at shielding, filtering out what's me and what's those around me…
It made sense. He was easily overwhelmed. She knew he was half Betazoid, based off his medical chart, as well as brief conversations they'd had. Several things started to click into place. And she had the strongest desire to hug the man and tell him she understood. Which would only increase the awkwardness that he was entrenched in, so she refrained. For now.
TBC
———
Ensign Talia Ohnari, MD
USS Arrow
C239205ME0
and
Ensign Nolen Hobart
Engineering Officer
USS Arrow (NCC-69829)
A240001NH3