Laundry Mishap

Posted on Mon Mar 1st, 2021 @ 7:56am by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Ensign Michael Sloan

Mission: Mission 4 - Eden
Location: Deck E - Laundry
Timeline: Day 159 20:00
1513 words - 3 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth looked up someone came into the Laundry room. It would give them a shock that Beth was there doing her own laundry but she was. No one else was going to do it for her on the ship and she would not expect anyone to be doing it either even if they were meant to. There was plenty of other tasks and errands that could be done other than washing her clothes. The routine of it was perfect for Beth and allowed her an opportunity to read something other than what was going wrong with Atlantis even if she could use the time to catch up.

"I don't think I've seen a Captain do their own laundry," Michael smiled as he walked into the laundry room with his own basket full of Starfleet issued clothing. He found an unused sanitizer and began loading his dirty clothes into the machine. It was during an off time and this was one of the areas of the ship that his ankle device allowed him to enter that did not involve work or sleep. "Are you having a good evening?" he asked, trying his hand at small talk not involving the weather.

Beth looked at Michael as he came in. She smiled sweetly at what he said before she decided what she was going to answer back. “Well we both know that you did not think of me as captain until recently so I have had to learn skills unbecoming of Commanding Officers.” She said with the sweet smile still on her lips. “Completely. I enjoy the routine of laundry but I am enjoying my book more. You?”

"Completely unbecoming," Michael laughed, "I've heard they've court martialed some Captains for it." For a brief moment, he had forgotten that he himself was a prisoner, a criminal. Growing a bit quiet, the man closed the lid and pressed the sanitize button. His machine began to make a soft whirr as it began to clean his clothes. Taking note of what Beth said, Michael asked, "What book? I might have to borrow it from you when you're done with it. I've already been through the small book shelf I brought with me from Earth." He glanced over towards the Captain to better hear her answer.

The woman watched him carefully. They had not really spoken since well before Christmas. She could not even remember seeing him at any of the celebrations but she could not blame him not wanting to join in when things were so up in the air in his head. Beth smiled as she came around from where she was sat on a nearly broken seat that had been put in for people waiting around. She wore a tee shirt and leggings; it was nothing special but it did make her look different, to quite the powerhouse than she usually was. “Journey to the Center of the Earth. A true classic, testament to the power of the imagination and the period’s fascination with scientific progress just like us.” Beth tossed the well read paper back to him.

Looking at the paper, Michael felt something like nostalgia as he saw the title and the cover art. "I feel like this is something that I've read, but I have no real memory of it." Nodding, he quickly added, "I'll start on it tonight." He himself was dressed in a standard blue Starfleet undershirt as well as a pair of gym shorts that he had supposedly worn in MACO training. Another memory that he could not quiet tell if it was real to him or real to someone else. Leaning against the sanitizer, Michael faced Beth. "I think about what we envision for the future, what we imagine all, " he paused to motion with his hands to indicate everything, "all this will become one day. Will people look back at our predictions and laugh or admire our imaginations." Rubbing his chin with his hand, he only just noticed the little bit of a beard that he had been growing. "I guess that'll be up to the next generations, the ones who will make it back to Earth. They'll have stories to tell." He usually was not this philosophical, but he had been stuck with his own thoughts for some time and he had not really talked to another person in a long time.

Beth smiled a little sadly as she listened to him talking about the fake memories. She could not imagine how scary it must be to wake up one day and discover a whole new life buried under the one that you thought you knew. “I am slightly jealous, Sloan getting to read a book for the first again is every scholar's dream.” She said trying to lift his spirits but he continued into philosophy and Beth found herself listening carefully to his words. “Will be my grandchild and great-grandchildren. I like to think they will see us as the guys who dared to dream and went further than anyone ever has from Earth before.”

"Dreamers who made the impossible possible," Michael stated softly as he ran a finger over the covering of the book and smelled the book smell. Looking back at Beth, he explained, "That's how I want us to be remembered." Letting out a little laugh to cut down some of the tension, the former First Officer added, "Maybe this should be refitted into a meditation chamber. Could be the soothing whir of the sanitizers or the ionizing discharge."

Beth watched him intrigued before the tension broke, Beth laughed softly and leant back in the chair not answering his first question. She hoped but her hopefulness was at rock bottom, between Aurelius and just how sick to her stomach she felt with the pressure of keeping everyone alive she was living one day at a time. "Why do you think the comms team spend so much time hanging out here or hydroponics?" She wondered with a big grin. She knew Mattias liked the sounds in the laundry compartment and that Lexi liked the hydroponics bay. Beth personally quite like the laundry comportment for the soothing sounds as well.

"And I used to think hanging out around the spatial torpedo launchers was something everyone was jealous of," Michael laughed. Looking around the room as if examining it closely, the man continued, "The only thing close is standing near the outer hull when the hull is polarized. You hear the humm of the metal and feel a certain tingle that's hard to explain."

Beth had never seen the spatial torpedo launchers so she could not comment but she was was sure it did not compare at all to the laundry or hydroponic compartment. “That is electricity that is why it tingles. You are charged.” Beth laughed for a moment before the chair that was already broken collapsed under her sending her flying backward to the floor.

Just before he could retort something about Armory officers having to know enough calculus and advanced math that of course they knew that the tingling feeling were caused by electricity, he noticed the Captain begin to fall. He did not make it in time to prevent Beth from reaching the ground, but instead he knelt beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder and left arm. "Are you alright?" he asked, letting his eyes do a preliminary once-over to see if they would need to make an urgent visit to Sickbay, checking for signs of concussion.

Beth sat up stunned by the sudden lurch and pain that shot through her head. “Owie.” Was all she muttered looking at Michael for a moment before she answered in French. “I am fine I believe.” Before she paused looking at him realising she was talking French and not Earth standard. “I am fine Michael. Obviously I need to cut down on the food.” She murmured trying to not seem embarrassed.

The comm unit on the wall hung in Michael's view for a moment, should he call for medical help or take her word that she was alright. The Romulan in him noted that this would be a perfect opportunity for her to get rid of the problem, but his Human side knew that his Captain would not do something so treacherous. Bringing his eyes back to Beth, he quickly examine her pupils. "We're taking you to Sickbay," he stated. "You were slipped into your natural tongue after head trauma, better to be safe than miss something seriously wrong with you." His tone left little choice as the man stood with his hand out to help his fallen Captain.

“I always slip into French if I do not pay attention.” She murmured but nodded defeated. Beth frowned as she took the offered hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She felt find other than jarred a bit but that was expected. She also knew as well as him that she would be saying the same as him if the roles were refused.

 

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