Out of Lock

Posted on Sun Jun 2nd, 2024 @ 3:21am by Ensign Mercy Mourne & Petty Officer, 3rd Class Kiyara de Vos
Edited on on Sun Jun 2nd, 2024 @ 3:37am

Mission: Contagion
Location: Outside of Ensign Mourne's Personal Quarters
Timeline: Day 400
1779 words - 3.6 OF Standard Post Measure

If there was one thing Kiyara would insist on to anyone willing to listen is that they weren't lazy, simply fuel efficient. They didn't like rushing, especially for things that seemed low priority. Conservation of energy meant they still had the chance to burst into action when the fecal matter truly hit the air redistribution device. So when a call came in about doors to personal quarters not opening fully they made sure to put it on the list, after their well earned afternoon break. They rounded the corner to the designated quarters, repair kit in hand, figuring that the quarter's occupant would've entered through the opening that had been created, or that they might've taken the opportunity to get an extra break or workout in.

Floating down the corridor was the sound of soft swearing and a keypad being repeatedly pressed, then making a crunchy noise of denial. “Oh come on! For fuck sake!” Mercy banged her head against the door with a soft thud, clawing at the metal in despair. Her head was partially protected by a towel and she wore a bathrobe which she clutched at the neck line, keeping it as closed as she could. “Why me?! Please don’t let anyone decide to come down- Kiyara!” The science officer visibly jumped in surprise, kicking over the little bathroom caddy at her feet. A damp flannel and a skinny, nearly used up soap bar skid across the deck. “Shit! Sorry! Please tell me you are here to fix my door? I’ve been stuck for ages and I think people are going to start taking photos and laughing soon!”

There was a moment where Kiyara wasn't sure whether to avert their eyes or point and laugh. The bar of soap skidded towards their feet and came to a halt against their steel-toed workboot. Slowly they leaned over to pick it up and with stoic professionalism they handed it back to Mercy. "I was led to believe it was a minor inconvenience. Sorry for the delay. Do you mind, ehm, stepping aside?" They got a bit uncomfortable taking in the attire of the scientist. Nervously averting their eyes and slowly drifting back across several times.

Mercy groaned and took the soap from Kiyara. “No need to apologise, didn’t have much pride left so minor inconvenience about covers it.” Her chuckle was just a little too forced and she stepped out of the way, before she began the delicate task of bending over to pick up the caddy and not flash the poor engineer who had been sent to help. “No one is hurt so definitely not a priority. I’m sure in a couple of days when the burning shame has gone I will be able to start looking people in the eye again.” Having secured her flannel and soap she clutched the caddy to her chest like it was a life raft. “So uhmmm… how’s your day going?”

"I uh." Kiyara popped the cover off of the door controls and pulled out the wiring inside to look if there was anything that could explain why the door wouldn't open. They realised that immediately being engrossed in the work the conversation had stalled completely. "Oh. This and that. We were looking at improving fuel efficiency. To clear my mind I started to run the list of repair requests. You were fifth." They looked back at Mercy, "Had I known what I'd run into, I'd have bumped up the priority." Their cheeks flushed with heat, and they immediately averted their eyes, thankful for the fact their natural skin colour obscured the shame, "I didn't mean. I mean. You're.. no. Never mind."

In response to Kiyara’s word Mercy let out a groan of shame. Unfortunately her pale skin meant there was no hiding her embarrassed blush. “Oh no! It is as bad as I thought isn’t it? What kind of idiot gets stuck half naked and soggy outside of their own quaters? Please don’t tell anyone about this? I’m pretty sure everyone thinks I’m already weird because I spend so much time alone.” She rubbed a hand over her face, seeming to miss Kiyara’s embarrassment for a moment and then she tended as it sunk in. Her eyes went wide and she was pretty sure she made a face like a gaping fish. “Oh uh… well, thank you for coming. To fix the door I mean!”

"There's no shame in enjoying one's own company.." immediately Kiyara regretted that particular turn of phrase, they soldiered on in the hopes it wouldn't devolve the conversation further, "but if you're done playing alone, we started a tabletop boardgame group some time ago. I'm sure you're.." They pulled out a wire, whose casing seemed all but completely melted away. A frown. That wasn't supposed to happen. It belied some sort of power surge through the system. Something to note in the incident report. If more of these started showing up it would point towards a systemic issue. Engrossed in the implications of a burnt through wire the damage control specialist completely forgot to finish inviting Mercy to their Boardgame nights.

Mercy smiled as she watched the engineer be engrossed in a mechanical problem. “I’m guess wires aren’t supposed to look like crispy melted wax?” Mercy chuckled and then tilted her head. “Oh is that the same game night Madelyn told me about? I would really like to join you all. It’s been a while since I’ve done something fun like that. If that was an invitation? I don’t want to intrude. And if you guys are full up I can always just be a back up person in case someone’s shift don’t line up and they can’t make it or something?” In predictable fashion Mercy started rambling the moment the subject turned to social activities.

"Hm?" The intonation of questions being fired their way drew their attention away from the investigation of the defect. "No. I mean yes. No to the wire looking the way it does, yes to the invite. We can always split up in smaller groups. Madelyn insists on a 'the more the merrier' approach to our group." Suddenly they came to a realisation. "Wait. Here." They stuck a tool inside the wall and shimmied a bit. A hiss indicated the doors opening. "I'll need to do some work to get it to close, but perhaps you can make yourself decent."

"Oh my god you star!" Mercy ducked into her room and placed her bathroom caddy down on her desk. "No peeking!" She called out, mostly just teasing. Kiyara had never seemed like the type to invade someone's privacy like that. She quickly pulled on her uniform, once she was dressed she began brushing her hair. "So what kind of boardgames are your favourite to play?" She came to stand so she could chat to Kiyara while she did her best to tame the lion's mane that she called a hairstyle. She should ask around and see if anyone knew how to cut hair on the crew. She'd never let it grow this long before.

Kiyara hadn't even considered the possibility of peeking for fear of their eyes straying at the mere thought of it. Transfixed on the wiring inside the wall they continued to work diligently and dared not even look up when Mercy started taking again. When the question came regarding boardgames the stoic stare into the panel wavered. "That's like asking what my favourite leg to stand on is." It sounded a lot more dramatic than intended. "Anything involving more strategy than luck is always guaranteed to get my blood pumping." Despite the earlier comment there clearly was a preference. It made them wonder for a second which was the preferred leg.

Mercy finished untangling her damp hair and she put the brush down and then glanced at herself in the mirror and sighed. It was about as good as it was going to get. She had run out of makeup around six months ago so she would just have to live with the pale skin which went blotchy and pink every time she blushed or got too hot. “Strategy huh? Okay well remind me not to bet against you if we end up playing Catan or something. Do you guys ever play cards?”

Mercy thought about the couple of decks of cards she had tucked away in a drawer, and the promise she had made when her brother had pressed them into her hand as she was leaving, not to loose her wages or dignity. She hadn’t really given herself the chance to loose anything, but she had played a lot of solitaire.

"Not really." Kiyara's response was terse. It wasn't that they had anything in particular against cardgames but most of them, like poker, attracted a certain crowd and required a certain set of social deduction skills. Neither of which was something they were particularly good at navigating. With a final flourish they reconnected the new wire in the control panel. Immediately the door closed again between the two of them. They used the still loose hanging control panel to press the chime. As damage control they had an emergency master override key but it seemed inappropriate to use it unless in case of emergency.

Mercy blinked at the closed door, suddenly finding herself in the strange situation of having her own door slammed in her face. “Uhm… Kiyara?” She called out, wondering if she had somehow offended the engineer. “I… you don’t have to play cards if you don’t want, I was only asking.” She mumbled under her breath as she reached out to the door release to see if she could get the door to open again.

With a hiss the door slid aside once more. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that." Kiyara pushed the small control panel back into the wall so that Mercy could use it as normal once more. "Should have it fixed though. And I'm sure there's a couple of people more than happy to play go fish or baccarat." A hesitant smile, "see you at the next game night? I'll put you on the comms list, if Maddie hasn't already."

“Oh good. For a minute I thought I might have upset you.” Mercy sagged in relief a little and then stepped out of her room. “Thanks for coming to my rescue Kiyara. I’ll look forward to the next games night!” With that she gave the engineer a wave and then hurried off to start her shift.

 

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