Help Me

Posted on Wed Dec 9th, 2020 @ 3:55pm by Ensign Alexandra 'Lexi' O'Connery & Ensign Elegy Nascimento

Mission: Mission 4 - Eden
Location: Deck E - Mess Hall
Timeline: Day 150 Year 0 08:00
3625 words - 7.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Lexi looked around the mess deck in a blind panic as she saw the small decorations and the fact everyone looked a little happier and a little less gloom and doom. She had not realised it was so close with everything that had gone on recently with the ship lost in space and the Vrav. How was she meant to fix this so at least the people that counted on the ship had some type of present? It was the little things that mattered and she knew Mattias would not care but she wanted to create something. “Ensign Elegy Nascimento I need your help.” She said aloud and signed as she saw him sitting by himself.

With his head tilted down, Elegy Nascimento had been staring at a PADD on his table until the world fell away around him. He had been so engrossed by the lines on the display, the sound of Lexi's voice had shocked him back to reality. That startled feeling bled into his assessment of the situation, and Elegy probably overreacted when he replied to Lexi in sign language. Locking eyes with her, he signed, Oh my god. Have the Vrav boarded us again?

Lexi paused and frowned looking around at where he had gotten that notion from before quickly shaking her head. “No. Not at all. I just need your help as I cannot ask Sovar for this and Darru would see it as a human frivolous behaviour and it is but I want to do it.” She signed hoping she was doing a good enough job. It was difficult to multi-task with hands and mouth but she was going to try her hardest for the man. Everyone deserved someone speaking their language.

A smirk played across Elegy's lips and he cocked an eyebrow at Lexi. He breathed out half a laugh at the conditions and considerations Lexi had attached to her request for help. Elegy signed at Lexi and he mouthed the words at her too, hoping that would help her practice of sigh language. "Frivolous?" Elegy asked silently. "Is the help you are asking for..." --He raised both his eyebrows-- "Sexy?"

Lexi looked at him stunned for a moment not sign language or even British coming to her as she stared at the man. Was he joking? Did he really think that? It took her a few moments before she smiled at him and shook her head, regathering her wits. “Look I know we were matched by Darru and his ridiculous idea of matching people I do believe I am not your type and I have someone who though I do not genetically match to occurring to the Vulcan’s I very much love.” She admitted surprising herself in the process. She did not admit her emotions often despite wearing them on her sleeve. “Which is why I need your help.”

With a pantomime of faux heartache crossing his expression, Elegy said aloud, "We would have made beautiful babies." --He cocked his head to the side and his sapphire eyes widened at the coming punchline-- "My husband wold have had questions, but those babies would have been beautiful." Blinking away that thought, Elegy cleared his throat. This time, when a furrow crossed his brow, it wall entirely earnest. "Lexi, I'm lost. You need help with your lover?" Elegy asked, but even he sounded like he thought his own assumption was preposterous. "Is there a secret lover you need to break it off with? ...Or feed to the Vrav, re-sequenced as algae?"

"No. He has not annoyed me that much." The babies would have been beautiful but there would have issues from spouses and boyfriends, to say the least. "Sometimes things that beautiful are not for this world. I know you are lost but the thing is its nearly Christmas and I want to get my secret lover as you put it a present." It was daft and silly but she had an idea of what would make a beautiful present for her fellow communication operator but she had no access to that material to make it happen whilst she knew he did. "Do we still have the scans from earth in our records?"

Elegy's expression softened at Lexi's intention to prepare a gift for her secret lover. He smiled at her with ease. In his postulations about Vrav biology and superfood algae, Elegy had trawled through the better part of the United Earth and Vulcan databases housed in Atlantis' computer core. With a flicker of curiosity behind his eyes, Elegy asked, "Which scans are you looking for?"

Lexi relaxed as she saw him relax and realise that she was trying to do something that was nice. “Anything I can turn into sound waves.” It would give away who her secrete was but she trusted the man to not go blabbing it around.

Squinting at Lexi, Elegy signed, Sound waves? To clarify that it was a question, he also signed, What and a question mark. He leaned closer to Lexi, given the conspiratorial tone she had used. "Are you looking for a video representation of sound waves, deck vibrations," Elegy asked, "or something more like music?"

"More like music." She finally said allowed after musing on it. She wanted something that was home. Communication Operations listened to space all around them often they could tell situations outside the ship by the sound of space. It was the thing she missed the most when she had been laid up injured, they were never going to listen to new music unless they made it themselves so she needed to get creative.

Given the three words Lexi said aloud, Elegy nodded to acknowledge that she had said something. Even in his acknowledgement, it was a slow nod and he squinted at her all the same. His facial expression betrayed how utterly perplexed he felt by this mirror maze of a conversation. "Our library computer holds an extensive database of sounds -- considering the hundreds of reports and logs we dictate to it every day," Elegy said, sharing what he knew about the ship's records. "So, what's the vibe you're looking for?," Elegy asked. "Are we talking orchestral or are we talking a-day-in-the-life soundscape of a street mime in Paris?"

Lexi looked at him gobsmacked for a moment as she realised just how much information the Atlantis’ computer obviously held. She had just been thinking of using the scans to make something daft but the man was giving her so many options to work with. It made her admire him just a little more than she had before along with the ship. Both were impressive in their own way. “What about New York?” She wondered feeling hopeful that she was going to get Mattias a present heartfelt and hopefully would help with his homesickness. He might not say it but sometimes she saw it in his eyes.

With a pecking finger, Elegy tapped a contact on his PADD to clear the sheet music that had cleared the screen moments earlier. "I've spent weeks and weeks courting the access and retrieval system of the ship's databanks. Like we talked about, I need to know everything United Earth knows about algae and feed efficiency," Elegy said, in reference to his project to develop a better food source for the Vrav. As he spoke, he tapped on the PADD to begin searches in entertainment, educational, and historical databanks simultaneously. Results begin to fill, and overfill, the display screen, and Elegy swiped away the results that wouldn't fit Lexi's brief. "I designed my own custom access subroutines to filter out anything but primary sources for my research. If I adjust the filters like so..."

"I can find you songs about New York City, movies that take place in New York," Elegy said, reading off a couple of the initial findings. He went on, saying, "We have video recordings of First Contact Day parades on Sixth Avenue and a MACO training animation that recreates the Battle of Jamaica Bay during World War Three."

Elegy looked up from the PADD and he looked at Lexi until she made eye contact. "Am I getting warm?" he asked.

Lexi stretched out her hands out toward and spoke softly, none of the usual thickness in her accent coming through in her attempt to be caring and sincere. She really wanted to get her point across. "You are so warm you are on fire Elegy." She said clearly looking at him wishing she had more hands to sign and let him know that sincerely she was indebted to him. "You are wasted on Gamma shift my friend." She knew why he was there but still, it was a waste when he could do so much better on both of the day shifts. "I know where to look properly now and exactly what I am going to do now. You have cleared the path." She assured squeezing his hands as she leant back. It would be so easy to start it now and be able to finish it in time now.

Lexi's gratitude caught Elegy by surprise, as evidence by a hint of heat in the cheeks beneath his beard. As far as Elegy was concerned, he hadn't done anything all that special for Lexicon Lexi. But that wasn't going to stop him from welcoming the appreciation train. "Well, thank you kindly," Elegy said, basking in the affection of Lexi holding his hands. "Although I can't say how welcome I would be in the science labs on alpha shift," Elegy remarked sardonically. "After I was the one to verify the wormhole, one third of the staff looked at me like I had imagined it, and one third of the staff looked at me like I was lying to make them look bad."

Lexi pulled back her hands resting them on the table in front of her as the butterflies in her stomach finally stopped flipping and she could think on things properly. Scientist were always fickle in her opinion they either doubted or were envious of other people and the skills they processed. It was why the competition was so high for Starfleet and other scientific achievements. "Sometimes you have to go through that type of thing to make you stronger. You more than likely confuse one of the Vulcan's and the other you intrigue and he probably wants to investigate you. As for the humans jealousy you seem to be pretty awesome. Not sure why Leroux did not make you Chief."

Elegy smiled back at Lexi. The expression didn't reach his eyes; the look behind his sapphire eyes was hollow. Shaking his head twice, Elegy said, "On Gamma Shift, I'm what we call a career ensign. I perform well on standardized testing. I'm clever... enough. But I was always too clever to ever learn how to work terribly hard. I didn't grow up dreaming of being a scientist or an officer. I stumbled into it. It took me time to learn how to love being a science officer. I spent my twenties wanting nothing more than to drink tequila and screw aliens.

"By the time I got serious about my career," Elegy said, "I was already married." Looking Lexi in the eyes, there was something warm and accepting about her gaze that made her easier to talk to than most. Elegy might have been her best friend by now if he had noticed this about her sooner in Atlantis' mission. He said, "My first duty was to Paulo, and then to Starfleet. By the time I really started showing up, by the time my uniform became my skin, I..." --Elegy's breath caught in his throat; he didn't like to think about his sabbatical-- "I left Starfleet. Starfleet likes loyal. Loyal officers make department head material. ...Are you a loyal officer?"

Lexi nodded as he spoke of his leaving and then returning to Starfleet. He had hinted at it before but now it was confirmed that he had left then returned. “I am sure one way you get there. And this adventure we are all on will certainly prove just that we are all department head material.” It was not like Starfleet had many officers and this ship did not have many left at all. They had to push forward when they could. “Oh Elegy I am so much more worse than loyal. I am young and idealistic.” She snorted. She knew she would never make department head due to Mattias but that was not a bad thing at all in opinion.

"Ahhhh, to be young..." Elegy said. As much as he said the words wistfully, there was something playfully sardonic about the delivery. Folding his hands on the tabletop, Elegy leaned in close. Conspiratorially, Elegy asked, "What's one of your ideals that drives you in your duty each day?"

Lexi smiled at the man and shook her head. He was such a fun personality to be around and she knew there and then exactly why the Vulcan's isolated him on the night shift. Neither of them would have gotten any work done with the tit for tat that would occur, it would have been chaos but it worked for the best. “I am barely a decade if that younger if that helps at all.” She offered to try to help him feel younger but it did not matter she guessed. “That I can change the world even if the world has gotten very small and now only has seventy people in.” It was a fact but sometimes smaller was better.

Suddenly sober, Elegy stared Lexi down with only a whisper of a smirk on his lips. "Now listen. I have to say that's not only an ideal," Elegy affirmed with absolute certainty. "You can change the world. That's fact." Elegy winked at Lexi, and he said, "I'm sure you're secret lover would tell you the same thing."

"I like to think so too. Our world is pretty small and we should all be looking after the little world we have now." The blonde communication officer sat up a little straighter as he told her to listen to him and grinned at his words. Mattias would think so if she let him say it. "I am sure he would and I will let him know you think so too," Lexi said without a hint of teasing or anything other than the truth. She was valuing the scientist's friendship and wanted to share it with the man who held her heart.

Without breaking eye-contact with Lexi, Elegy shook his head at her and he scraped his teeth across his lower lip. "Well then... Who is he?" Elegy asked of her, literally on the edge of his seat. He lowered his voice to an absolute whisper, so no one else would hear. Impatiently, Elegy clarified by saying, "Who's deserving of a New York recreation, in addition to your heart?"

Lexi looked at him and grinned. He was ever the scientist wanting to discover something new and interesting but she shook her head at him denying him that knowledge. “Oh no Ensign. This is all my secrete for a bit longer.” She teased him. One day she might be ready to let everyone in on what she and Mattias had but until then it was a small secrete that only McManus was in on by default of him being a nosey git and Mattias needing support when she had been at death's door. She could not fault him for needing that support.

Shaking his head slowly, Elegy asked, "So there really is no glimmer of co-parenting in our future?" The way Elegy looked at her, his earnest tone of voice, the wry curl to his lips, and something else behind his eyes... it all walked a fine, fine line. Maybe he found it ridiculous that Darru had identified the two of them as a genetic match for procreation, and maybe he had no romantic desire for Lexi, and maybe he was also intrigued by the notion, and maybe he was starting to enjoy teasing Lexi, and maybe it was all contradictory and all true at the same time. "I guess you only went on that dinner with me to humour Darru?" Elegy asked. There was nothing in his voice that questioned the incipient friendship that was growing between them, but they could have hung out anywhere at any other time without Darru's intervention.

"I did not actually know it was that until Darru came over all smug that we seemed to be having a good time. And I really did enjoy myself like I have every interaction between us Elegy. You are fantastic whitty company." Lexi admitted with a small smile as she looked at the man trying to work out just what he was thinking or looking for. He was fantastic company and someone if they got back to earth tomorrow she would stay in contact with without a doubt. "Elegy what are you looking for?" She wondered finally figuring it would be easier to ask than have her mind whirling.

It seemed like magic trick, to Elegy, how quickly Lexi had turned the tables on him. Now the bright interview light was facing back on him, and yet Elegy never seemed to mind being vulnerable in front of Lexi. Not for one moment had she ever made him feel judged or questioned for anything. Elegy pursed his lips at that question and he squinted at Lexi. "I don't know what I want," Elegy said, and he sounded more certain of that than most other things he said. He folded his arms over his abdomen, but then he unfolded his arms before he continued. Elegy spoke slowly, entirely lacking his characteristic flurry of excitement.

"I was thinking what a nice thought that was," Elegy said, his voice constrained by tightness in his throat, "being a parent. Given how far I am away from Earth, and Jupiter Station, and Paulo..." --He waved a hand at the bulkheads around them-- "If this is the entirety of our little world, I don't know if duty is going to be enough to fill my days, two years from now. Ten years from now. Twenty years from now...."

It was a nice thought and something she had not to consider at all before until she had got trapped so far from everything, she thought she had known and needed. It was not until someone who had just as much language skill as she walked into her life that she had considered it. But in her head, it was too soon, there was still so much hope of them getting home before she thought on that even if she was humouring Darru. Lexi looked at him one way and then the other before she shook her head a bit and lent forward signing as she spoke.

“It is a nice thought but not something I had thought on before. Darru caught me after I was stabbed by the vrav.” She assured him before shaking her head at him. How was she supposed to answer that at all? "Duty is not all we have. We have friendship."

At the mention of friendship, Elegy was quick to say, "Forgive me," and he signed it too for emphasis. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful," Elegy said, "We do have more than duty in our little world. I just-- I feel like I've woken up in the future of an alternate timeline? There were no warp five starships when I joined Starfleet. The possibility of living aboard a starship, living a whole life, never even occurred to me..."

“You do not need forgiveness Elegy. We are friends.” She assured quickly and shook her head making her hair falling in her face as she did so making her frown. She paused speaking with her hands as she had to use both hands to sweep it back off of her face. “What do you do outside of shift other than attempt to co-parent with me?” She teased him trying to lighten his mood. Maybe he needed a hobby? Maybe he needed to meet more people and work out some type of role on the ship other than night shift science minion.

Shaking his head slowly, Elegy smiled fondly at Lexi. "It's not that I have time to fill..." Elegy said and he shook his head again; "We don't have to solve this." He smiled again, but it didn't fully reach his eyes. Elegy said, "It's a future problem. It's only theoretical today."

Lexi nodded they did not but she wanted to try and help him. He was correct it was something for another day but she was not going to forget or let him escape her assistant. He needed something more than she could provide, she just did not know what it was yet. She winced as she heard her name announced over the tannoy and sighed looking at a chronometer nearby. “I am late. Lieutenant Constantine is going to kill me.” Or at least worry that I am not where I should be, she mused internally. “Get some sleep. And I will see you tomorrow for a proper breakfast okay?”

At Lexi's genuine concern, a twinkle of je ne sais quoi returned to Elegy's eyes. "Just remember," Elegy said in a timbre that suggested tongue-in-cheek gravitas and import. He winked at Lexi, and then he told her, "I like my eggs soft scrambled."