Lt. JG Natasha Cole - Dressed for Difficult Conversations
Natasha Schell
((Elysium - Main level, Deck 6, USS Artemis))
Storm: Wait … when we were in that simulation at the end?
Natasha nodded, the memory of what the hallucination of her father had said to her egging her on trying to belittle her, made her feel less than insignificant. As much as she wanted to give up, she was not only his kid, but also her mother’s. And her mom didn’t raise a quitter.
Cole: Yeah, I had begun hallucinating him shortly after Ollie had ordered me to hold back outside of Main Engineering.
Storm: So that’s what was going on?
Cole: He was cruel, talking down to me as if he hadn’t left. I was tuning him out till … he accused me of killing his son. That’s when I almost punched a bulkhead, thankfully I had enough clarity to stop and tell him off.
Storm: That makes so much more sense now! ::Holding her folded arms palms up.:: I thought something was going on, but ::Placing her hands over her eyes momentarily before removing them:: I wish I had known.
Cole: ::shrugging:: How could you have known. We had barely just met, but thank you … for listening.
Storm: Even in silence, especially in silence we need to be heard. I wish I had listened better.
Cole: Honestly, I was more worried that you or Ollie would have insisted I get checked out by Counsellor Lux.
Storm: Everyone’s thoughts are so loud that I try to block everyone and everything out. I wasn’t listening - literally. Maybe I should…at least a little.
Cole: I am a work in progmess, a chaotic one at times, but at least it’s not boring.
Storm: I’ve heard enough to know that you are indeed not boring.
Cole: We’ve unpacked quite a bit, interested in a snack?
Storm: Yeah. ::Alex paused for a blink.:: Only if you’ll tell me a bit about your explosive fettish. ::Alex shrugged her shoulders:: Skuttlebutt travels at light speed.
Cole: ::slightly pinching the bridge of her nose, with a small smile and laugh:: A girl callapses a tunnel and hurdles herself into the air on her first away mission and gets labeled a Pyrophilia.
Alex had turned to get the servers attention.
Server: Can I help you?
Storm: Pick your poison and a snack … on me.
Cole: That is kind of you, Thank you.
Storm: I’d like a black hole and an order of fried pickles.
Cole: I will have an order of cinnabon nachos with cream cheese icing dip, and an old fashion with a blood orange peel. Thank you.
Server: I’ll have that out in just a minute.
Natasha nodded to the server, before looking back to Alex continuing their conversation.
Cole: ::wry:: I prefer my chaos redirected and my explosions purposeful.
Storm: …So—do you actually prefer chaos?
Did she? Or did she thrive in spite of it, something the universe may never know the answer too..
Cole: ::straightening slightly, like the words matter:: There’s a saying in my family, Strength in Adversity.
Storm: It’s a good saying to live by.
Cole: It doesn’t mean charging into fire. It means staying steady when everything around you wants to fall apart.
Alex leaned back in her chair and placed her palms down on the tabletop as if to stabilize herself
Storm: … because that never happens around here at all.
Cole: ::steady, thoughtful:: I was taught that strength isn’t about overpowering chaos, it’s about standing in front of it so it doesn’t hit the wrong people. That’s the kind of security officer I’m trying to be. One who makes sure the chaos doesn’t land on those who never chose the fight.
True to form their server came back with their drink order and snacks, placing them down in front of each of them.
Storm: ::to the server:: Can I get a couple of napkins?
Server: Sure.
He reached into his short apron and
set a few down between them on the table.
Storm: ::To the server: Thanks! ::To Nat::I didn’t think about the grease when I ordered these. Story of my life. Have you ever had one before?
Cole: ::leaning forward as if to share a secret:: I love pickles. I use to sneak them off Juno’s plate when they weren’t looking.
Storm: Would you like one? ::Pushing her plate in Cole’s direction:: But to get back to our discussion, That’s what security and tactical are all about. We step into that breach every time we go out on a mission.
Cole: ::taking one:: Thank you. ::tossing it into her mouth:: and sliding her cinnabon nachos closer, if Alex was interstred:: Absolutly, it’s part of why I wanted to specialize in it.
She picked up one of her cinnabon nachos and dunked it into the cream cheese icing dip. Looking at it with a smile, she slide the plate between them to offer any to Alex.
Cole: When I graduated, my mom reminded me I was the first one of her side of the family to choose that career path in nearly two hundred and fifty years.
Biting into the cinnamon covered nacho with a coating of icing, letting the flavor sit for a moment. They were nice and crispy with a perfect balance of flavor.
Storm: Has there ever been a point during the mission that you were afraid?
The short silence filled the space. Alex leaned in and gestured to Nat.
Storm: If not for yourself, for someone else?
Natasha thought for a moment, almost lost in thought. There was likely always going to be a moment were fear would try and creep in. There was a moment that immediately played out in her head though.
Cole: ::Nodding:: During my first mission here on the Artemis. Commander Jovenan had me take the tactical station. We were preparing for the possibility of a battle with the Orion Syndicate. During the battle … there was a moment I thought a decision I made, lead to the slaughter of innocents.
Storm: Response
Cole: Fortunately it turned out to be a ploy by the Orions, desperate to make Starfleet look like the aggressors, but the fear in that moment … ::deep exhale::
Storm: Response
Cole: Corad taught that fear marks the moment where you decide who you are. My father taught that fear means you’ve already failed. ::taking a drink of her old fashioned:: I chose to listen to the one who left room for people to survive the choice.
Storm: Response
Tags/TBC
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Lt. JG Natasha Cole
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
Writer ID A240205NC4