Lieutenant Ras El'Heem - Debrief
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((Hallway outside Science Lab, Deck 16, USS Khitomer, DS33 Dry Dock))
Coming off a mission always carried the same peculiar sort of haze. The urgency vanished all at once, leaving behind PADDwork, unanswered questions, and the strange realization that the ship was still moving despite the sector having very nearly decided otherwise. There would be commendations and debriefings like the one he was about to have, but there was also the therapy. He wasn’t sure he’d need it this time until Talia had accidentally sent him a video of a fan edit someone had made of him in drag. That would require therapy. Still…nobody had died. That counted for something.
Ras stepped out of the turbolift with a PADD in his upturned palm, absently scrolling through the preliminary mission debrief as he walked. The corridors already felt like they were returning to normal. No more filament clusters, damage control teams were replaced by repair teams, and the smell of overheated EPS conduits had finally given way to recycled air. Even the ship seemed to breathe easier sitting safely in Dry Dock.
He glanced sideways at the man beside him as he let out a refreshing sigh.
El'Heem: One more spacewalk and you've got yourself a bingo.
Matthews: Response
His eyes lightened for a moment before returning to their baseline green.
El'Heem: Oh, is that all?
Matthews: Response
Ras gave a dismissive wave with the hand holding the PADD.
El'Heem: Good. Glad we're on the same page. ::under his breath as his attention returned to the report:: abducted by carnivorous alien Amazon women. No big deal.
His eyes continued to scan the report. Pages and pages of sensor logs and tactical reports.
oO Whoever wanted to be a department head, anyways? Oo
Another sigh escaped his mouth, this one more frustrated. Somehow several days of existential crisis always condensed into a handful of bullet points and a command officer's signature.
Ras grumbled to himself.
El'Heem: ::without looking up:: And here I thought I might've missed you.
Matthews: Response
The doors to the science lab parted with their familiar hiss. It smelled faintly of sterilizing solution, warm circuitry, and whatever questionable tea someone had forgotten on the workstation three shifts ago.
Home.
Ras wandered toward the main console, still reading.
El'Heem: ::lost in thought:: Um, Richard. Check to see if we've received the Velithari communique. Last I heard the microfragmentation was proliferating at a ra-
He paused, forgetting his new ensign was assigned to this shift now.
Matthews/Eeso: Response
Only then did Ras finally lower the PADD, tossing it onto the table to his right.
His eyes landed on Eeso.
El'Heem: Ah. Ensign Eeso...meet your new best friend. Ensign Richard Matthews.
He motioned vaguely between the two of them, his enthusiasm lacking.
El'Heem: If you're lucky, he won’t take a liking to you. Just don’t feed him milkshakes after midnight.
Ras leaned back against the console and folded his arms.
El'Heem: Though perhaps you can take over the impossible task of keeping him out of trouble. I've had limited success.
Matthews/Eeso: Response
This was going to be weird. She wasn’t so nearly as cocky as Semara could be when she had her mind set on something.
TAGS/TBC
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Lieutenant Ras El ‘Heem
Chief Science Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
K240106RE3