Lt Commander Ava Munro - Your entire life can't be about this job
Ava Munro
((Maintenance Observation Lounge - Deck 372 - DS224))
Ava found that she was finally relaxing into the conversation but the Fleet Captain was hard to read. It was fine, she had served with COs that preferred the more distant, intimidating, approach and she'd served with the opposite. And she had a feeling that MacKenzie was the type to get stuff done and that suited her just fine.
Given that she had advised Ava to balance out her work/life, she was curious. Most COs struggled with that very concept - had the captain managed to figure that out?
Munro: Captain, can I ask how you balance duty and personal life? If you don't mind?
They'd almost done a lap of the maintenance lounge, nervous junior officers glanced at them as they passed and scuttled off to resume a task.
MacKenzie: ::deadpan:: Oh yes: I don’t believe in fun.
Ava almost fell over her own two feet as she remembered the joke that she had made about fun, her cheeks blushed and she took to the large windows and observed a Duderstadt class vessel being repaired - much of its hull exposed.
MacKenzie: I’m kidding, Commander…
Ava smiled and exhaled the biggest sigh of relief as she let herself laugh out loud.
Munro: You did have me with that one.
MacKenzie shook her head slightly, and Ava kept pace so that she could walk beside the captain.
MacKenzie: Truthfully, I’m not the best person to ask. I never settled down, and I don’t get back to Earth to see my family as much as I should… Relationships take effort.
Munro: I understand that, I rarely go back to Naura IV - my homeworld - to see my parents. I love them dearly but there's always something else to do.
Ava felt a little guilty speaking this truth out loud. Her mother loathed space travel and only ever left the planet a handful of times in her entire life - which meant that Ava would travel several months to visit and then back again. It really wasn't feasible and she missed them desperately. She missed home.
Munro: My husband thinks I'm ruining his life by leaving Earth :: laughs :: He has a flair for the dramatic. Captain, you never met someone that made you want to give it all up - settle on some station or planet?
As MacKenzie cocked her head slightly, Ava observed her carefully. She hadn't imagined that the conversation would take such a turn and now it felt less like the command team and more like two women chewing over life.
MacKenzie: Too many other important things to do: life-saving operations, mediating ground-breaking peace treaties… You can have it all, but you can’t have it all right now.
Munro: I got that back to front. Story of my life, I never learned the easy way.
Ava indicated a small seated area, where a café of sorts had been set up for the maintenance workers.
MacKenzie: Response
As they took their seats, with an impressive view of the station's docking area she turned to the captain again.
Munro: I hope you don't mind me saying so but it does sound like you need a reminder of your own advice from earlier. And I quote ‘your entire life can't be about this job’?
Ava thought that this may be the moment she's drummed out of the fleet…
MacKenzie: Response
Munro: I don't mean to pry, honestly that's not my intention.
MacKenzie: Response
Tags/TBC
First Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240004LL2