JP: Ensign Nemes, Ensign T’Fearne, Ensign Syrex & Ensign Evinrude: JOPA - Lower Decks [Part 1]
Tess Evinrude
((0400 Hours, Syrex/T’Fearne Quarters, Compartment 2, Section 4, Deck 8, USS Ronin))
Sleep, the comfiest frontier, these are the voyages of the USS Melatonin, to boldly…
Alyndra snapped her eye awake, her covers slightly covering her mouth, her arms wrapped behind her head as she slowly regained consciousness. She heard someone speaking in the pitch darkness. It sounded familiar
T’Fearne::: sleepy disgruntled vulcan muttering:: 1Orfik-kel gol'nev! po ma nash-veh vesh' taflau k' wuh roommate ik snores ni ral? nash-veh ma pakik tum-tor t' uf wehk wak nash-veh ma vesh' woken k' wuh ral esh t' wuh gormagander.
Alyndra sighed, she’d lost count of the number of times that T’Fearnes sleeptalking had woken her up. Unfortunately, she never knew what she was saying, she wasn’t sure that T’Fearne knew either.
Alyndra sat up, reaching into the compartment behind her pillow to grab her charging eyeball. Slipping it in, the LCARs sequence she was now so used to seeing filled her vision, giving her a slight headache, before the eye began to feed its input to her optic nerve. It wasn’t something she’d gotten used to yet, she wasn't sure that she ever would.
A few moments passed, before red filled the room, an alarm blaring. Unexpecting this noise, Alyndra slipped out of her bunk, landing in a crumpled heap next to T’Fearnes bed, containing the wide awake Vulcanoid sitting bot upright with her hands clamped to her sensitive ears.
Syrex: Mornin’
T’Fearne didn’t answer through the screeching klaxon, except to pat Alyndra gently on her blond head as she leapt out of bed and over her friend and threw her uniform on swiftly.
The noise subsided, clearly this was a test of the red alert system, Alyndra peered out of the quarters artificial window. The ship was at warp, there was no announcement from Captain Niac, clearly this was a glitch.
The security officer looked up as the noise ceased, but finished donning her uniform and shoes. She snagged the doctor's uniform shoes and nudged them towards the Trill.
T’Fearne::: Shaking her head:: Best not assume it’s a drill until we get the all clear. Do you want to be caught running around barefoot and in your pyjamas if the ship is being invaded?
The chime indicating inter-ship communication sounded then, far more softly than the red alert system. A man’s voice followed, his tone professional but apologetic.
Evinrude: =/\= ::Clearly trying to speak softly.:: Affected room, this is Ensign Evinrude, Ops on duty. Please excuse the interruption and disregard red alert. =/\=
Evinrude: oO Should I have said my name? Will there be a horde of angry officers waiting at my quarters when this shift ends? Oo
Alyndra reached to her uniform, in her locker adjacent to where she laid, tapping her combadge with a small poke.
Syrex: =/\= Ensign Evinrude? Wha.. What happened? =/\=
The usually precise security officer deflated slightly, the energy leaving her and she promptly kicked the shoes off, threw the uniform jacket into the refresher, didn't bother to take her black uniform pants off and just flopped face-first back onto the bed with a quiet groan.
T’Fearne::: Muffled by pillow:: 2Nash-veh ri tor tun ra wuh glitches nam-tor. Nash-veh aitlun wuh mishek tor teslau ish-veh sahris. ::switching back to federation standard:: Ok, now we can go back to sleep.
Evinrude: =/\= Oh, hello room… ::There was a pause while the ensign consulted his list of room assignments, already on-screen.:: …oh-four-oh-two. There was a glitch in the new diagnostic routine I’m installing, and instead of simulating the result…well, it actually sent the alert. =/\=
Syrex: =/\= Well.. that explains that I suppose, but why are you doing it now? =/\=
Before the ensign had a chance to respond, the doorbell chimed.
Syrex: Enter
The light from the door opening poured into the room gradually, revealing Ensign Nemes in what looked like her pajamas. Alyndra sighed, she had recently discovered a friendship forming between her and Nemes, but to have her in her bedroom only added to the rumour mill that she had many girlfriends onboard the ship. She ushered the science officer into the room, allowing the door the close behind her, before anyone could see her there.
T’Fearne, having spent her energy from the excitement of the alarm on jumping up, ready to potentially do battle, now merely turned her head and squinted at the light coming from the hall and the figure in the doorway until she recognised Sybil, her time-travelling companion on the Bajoran rescue mission gone wrong. She hadn’t realised Sybil was quartered nearby.
((OPS Duty Station, Bridge, Deck 3))
Manning the Ops duty station on the bridge, Tess was wide awake and multitasking. He wanted to be sure the faulty alert system diagnostic program wasn’t the only one acting a fool, but that was a bit beyond his current authorized assignment. He was logging the program’s error and double-checking which rooms on deck eight were affected when a doorbell and more voices could be heard over the still-open comms, including a loud sigh and a few choice words muttered in…was that Vulcan?
Evinrude: =/\= ::Still speaking quietly.:: Is…someone else there? I’m on duty, night shift. I’ll let you all get back to sleep, apologies! =/\=
((Syrex/T’Fearne Quarters, Compartment 2, Section 4, Deck 8))
Sybil rubbed her eyes sleepily. In all the confusion with the alarm that had suddenly gone off, she had even forgotten to put her shoes on and was standing barefoot in Alyndra’s quarters.
Nemes: Sorry to disturb you in the middle of the night. ::Suppressing a yawn:: There was this strange alarm going off in my quarters. But everything’s quiet here in the corridor. D’you know what this is about?
Syrex: Oh hello Sybil, Mister Evinrude pressed a button, who knew the red alert system could be turned on for only a specific area.. I certainly didn’t!
T’Fearne::: sleepily:: Hi Sybil. It’s ok, its not a real red alert. You can go back to sleep if you want.
Sybil needed a moment to think about it, not only because she had just been woken from her sleep, but also because she only knew the Evinrude in question by name and had never spoken to him.
Nemes: Mister Evinrude? You mean the guy in Operations? ::beat:: Why?
((OPS Duty Station, Bridge, Deck 3))
Meanwhile, the ‘guy in operations’ had stopped tapping his console, and was making a deflated face at the LCARS interface.
Evinrude: oO I didn’t…push a button. This isn’t my fault! Oo
He took a quiet breath, and manifested that same soft and courteous ‘customer service’ voice.
Evinrude: =/\= There was a glitch in the new alert system diagnostic program. It sounded a real alarm in a few rooms on deck eight, instead of just simulating it. I’m truly sorry to wake you all, I can let you go! =/\=
((Syrex/T’Fearne Quarters, Compartment 2, Section 4, Deck 8))
With the voice coming over the comms, Sybil suddenly realised that the person in question was actually listening.
Nemes: :: almost silently whispering to Alyndra so that no one on the comms could hear it:: This is him, right?
Syrex: ::Whispering:: Errr oO I have no clue what she’s on about Oo ::Shrugs her shoulders, maintaining her whisper:: Sure..
When her suspicion was confirmed, Sybil clutched her head. Once again, it was so typical of her that she put her foot in her mouth at the very first - albeit indirect - encounter.
T’Fearne: Thank you for the update, Mister Evinrude. Good night.
The sleepy Vulcazoid made a vague cutting motion with her hand hoping that Alyndra would wrap the conversation and they could all go back to sleep.
Nemes: ::now in a normal voice to the comms:: I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be rude.
Syrex: ::Snorts:: You mean you didn’t want to be EvinRUDE!
Sybil bit her lip in order to not laugh out loud over the comms with the said Ensign on the other end.
((OPS Duty Station, Bridge, Deck 3))
Evinrude: oO That’s…actually a new one. Oo
Tess kept himself from laughing, with some difficulty. Despite the intensity of the mission on B’Hala, most members of the crew hadn’t met him yet, and he didn’t want the appearance of goofing off to damage first impressions amongst the bridge crew. Seemingly, no one had noticed; the other nightshift officers were absorbed in their tasks.
He had to admit, this was fun. With so much settling-in to do following his brand-new assignment to the Ronin, not to mention the events on B’Hala, he had been craving socialization.
Plus, they still hadn’t closed out the comms channel.
((Syrex/T’Fearne Quarters, Compartment 2, Section 4, Deck 8))
T’Fearne let out a quiet groan, grabbed her pillow and flung it upward at the ceiling at the precise angle so that it would ricochet off the bulkhead and land, hopefully on Alyndra.
Syrex: Ah, thanks for the pillow T’Fearne, we can have another fluff battle when Sybils goes back to bed. Besides ::looks at the pillow:: it could be good to smush your face into when you sleep talk.
T’Fearne::: confidently:: I don’t talk in my sleep! Talking in one's sleep is illogical, it would waste energy communicating without an intended recipient.
Syrex: Uh, huh, sure.
Evinrude: =/\= You know, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about! I was practicing pretty intensely for…something once, and my roommate at the time heard me sleep singing. From down the hall. =/\=
Syrex: =/\= Huh… Down the hall hey… You must have quite a voice on you! =/\=
Nemes: Well, that’s a new one. Walking or talking, yes. But I’ve never heard of anyone singing in their sleep.
What with Tess chiming in over the comm, Sybil wandering in, the medium-sized sofa pilfered from Beck’s office taking up space, their already tiny quarters were feeling full to busting.
T’Fearne: Perhaps we could all sing, walk, talk or snore ourselves back to sleep and continue the conversation at a more appropriate interval.
Evinrude: ::That last snarky comment was met with a quick snort of a laugh out of Tess.:: =/\= I could close your comm channel from the bridge, but I do need to log ‘how the crew was affected’ in my bug report. ::There was a beat, and the ensign’s tone changed to sound as if he were talking to himself.:: I’m thinking…crew unaffected…sleep talking was louder than red alert klaxon… =/\=
A thought occurred to Alyndra, a smile crept across her face.
Syrex: =/\= So, Ensign Evinrude… When do you get off? =/\=
Evinrude: =/\= Uhm– ::Silence on the channel.:: =/\=
((OPS Duty Station, Bridge, Deck 3))
Evinrude: oO Oh no. I can feel it. She’s going to report this to Lieutenant Vailani… Oo
The ensign took a steadying breath, and forced his voice back into that ‘on-duty’ tone.
Evinrude: =/\= My shift ends at oh-eight-hundred. =/\=
Syrex: =/\= Meet me in holosuite 3 at 10:00 hours tomorrow morning, Doctors orders =/\=
If anyone on the bridge could see Ensign Evinrude’s face, they would have known something was up. His complexion - not ginger-freckled but certainly on the lightest end of that spectrum - meant, annoyingly, that blushing cheeks would be his tell…if he played poker.
oO Is she asking me out? Oo
A follow-up thought.
oO …is this a medical exam?! Oo
Tess’ previous life in the entertainment industry had given him a healthy ability to ‘go with the flow.’ Despite being plain old human, he could sense an interesting experience or story when one presented itself.
Plus, there were worse outcomes possible when waking two rooms full of annoyed Starfleet ensigns. The girls seemed to know each other, and Tess, so far, had met exactly one person outside of duty. He was outnumbered.
Evinrude: ::After a long beat.:: =/\= You got it! I’ll see you later. And, until then, I hope you can all get some rest. Goodnight, deck eight. =/\=
It was only after he closed the channel and bid them goodnight did he realize that he hadn’t actually pinned voices to names…and one of those voices sounded vaguely familiar. Who would be at the holodeck? He supposed he could check the crew manifest for room 08-0402, but that would ruin the surprise!
((Syrex/T’Fearne Quarters, Compartment 2, Section 4, Deck 8))
Alyndra heard the beep as the comline closed. She put the combadge away with her uniform into her locker. Jumping back onto her bunk she removed her eye, placing it back into its charging cradle. She turned to face the two other women in her and T'Fearnes' shared quarters.
Syrex: That goes for both of you too, now maybe we should try and get some sleep before then huh?
Sybil frowned, but then just nodded as she stifled another yawn. She was too tired to think about what Alyndra was up to.
Nemes: Very good idea. See you then.
With that, Sybil headed back to her quarters.
T’Fearne hadn’t moved much since flopping onto her bunk, but now she turned slightly as the door began to slide closed with a soft whoosh.
T’Fearne::: calling softly:: ‘Night Sybil. :: to Alyndra:: Sounds mysterious. oO What do you have planned, friend? Oo
[TBC in Part 2]
============================
OOC: Vulcan language translation:
1Ancestors help! why have i been punished by a roommate that snores so loud? I have lost count how many times I have been woken by a loud breath belonging to a gormagander.
2I don't care what a glitches be. I desire an engineer do fix that one fast.
============================
*Ensign Sybil Nemes*
Science Officer
USS Ronin
D239009VD0
&
Security Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
R240107T14
&
Ensign Alyndra Syrex
Medical Officer
USS Ronin (NCC-34523)
R240107AS3
&
Ensign Tess Evinrude
Operations Officer
USS Ronin
R240111TE1