Close Quarters

Posted on Wed May 12th, 2021 @ 3:33am by Lieutenant Kennedy Ryan Walsh & Lieutenant JG Irynya

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: Mess Hall - Deck 2
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 1030

[USS-Sojourner]
[Deck 2, Mess Hall]
[MD1 - 1030 Hours]

The Mess Hall was small, tables and chairs that could fit perhaps a quarter of the crew at a time arrayed about the room. Irynya stepped through the doors to the space and savored the whoosh of doors and the strangely familiar feel and smell of the airflow on a space ship.

Truth be told all of the Sojourner felt small after spending so long planetside. But something about the close quarters of the place cemented a grin across her face. She was home. She could feel it in her bones.

She headed up to the replicators and ordered a coffee. She had eaten breakfast with her parents before leaving and would be more than full until taking a late lunch. As a second stringer her shift was still several hours away, but the likelihood of sleep in this new arrangement was nil, so a cup of coffee and the view was her pastime of choice.

Few people had made their way to the mess yet so a number of tables were open though it wouldn't take long for them to fill if others decided to pass their time the same way she had. Grin widening just a touch more, if that was even possible, she settled herself by the window and stared out at the stars, coffee cup warming her hands where it sat atop the table.

Kennedy Ryan Walsh loved the feeling of a freshly pressed uniform against his skin. He preferred it over his more casual and unprofessional look he realized he had grown accustomed to on his overtly extended leave on Risa. He took a moment at the replicator to order an Irish breakfast tea and a breakfast sandwich with a fruit salad before carrying the tray to find a seat. He spotted the young attractive woman he had encountered on Risa which left him flabbergasted without saying a word, which is a social setting that made sense for Kennedy. He decided to walk past her and find an empty table to enjoy his breakfast alone, which was unlikely due to the size of the lounge.

There were few things that could catch Irynya's attention at that moment as she took in her fill of the stars she had seen only from the planet for the last few months, but an unexpectedly familiar figure with a shock of auburn hair walking past her table was one of them. She had been curious about the new ACMO since pulling him into the hulu dancing the night prior and so before it occurred to her that he might not want to say hello she called out "Dr. Ryan Walsh?"

Kennedy stopped in his tracks and paused for a moment. He saw that a group of Ensigns had pulled into the last available table. He turned around to face Irynya with an attempt to smile, "Hello Lieutenant Irynya. Can, I-uh-join you?"

The mess hall was surprisingly well designed to keep sound to a minimum and Irynya was struck by the timbre of the ACMO's voice. Amidst the noise of the party and beat of the drums she hadn't immediately picked up on it. Now, in the quieter environment of the ship, she was treated to the lilt of his Irish heritage .

The Risian hadn't thought past her greeting and so, for a moment, was surprised by the question. "Absolutely," she replied, composing herself quickly and gesturing to the seat across from her while continuing to mull over the accent in Dr. Ryan Walsh's voice.

Doctor Ryan Walsh set his tray down on the table. He quickly surveyed the room to see if a table had opened up, which hadn't been the case. He sat down across from Irynya while trying to avoid direct eye contact before taking a small sip of his tea. He was spoilt with the various Risian coffees and teas during his extended stay, Irynya had the Risian crest on her forehead, on her homeworld. Without avoidance, he made direct eye contact with her piercing yet soft Hazel eyes, "Getting-uh,all um settled, onboard?"

If nothing else Kennedy Ryan Walsh was going to be a bit of a puzzle. His body language clearly screamed discomfort and yet here was was making almost unnervingly direct eye contact. It was a fascinating contradiction and for a moment she wondered whether he was just unaware of how easily he telegraphed his discomfort or if he simply didn't know what to do about it. Eye contact wasn't a thing she found particularly discomfiting so she held his gaze and smiled, plastering her best disarming Risian expression across her face. After an appropriately polite moment, though, she broke the eye contact to pick up her coffee, sipping slowly while sneaking a glance out the window before answering his question.

"As settled as I can be for now," she finally commented, taking another sip before continuing. "The quarters in this ship are less private than the last. There's three others in the shared space I was assigned, but I somehow didn't run into anyone when I poked my head in. Still need to have my things transported in though."

She set her cup down and turn her gaze back to Kennedy. "You know," she continued thoughtfully, "I didn't even think to see who the other three were yet. I wonder if they're folks I know already." Pausing, she chewed her lip a moment, a tick her mother used to chide her for before giving in to the reality that it was altogether unintended. "How about you? Settled in?"

Kennedy was oblivious that he was making Iryna uncomfortable with his direct eye contact. He was thankful that she broke direct eye contact momentarily, he looked out of the porthole before taking a bite of his breakfast sandwich and a forkful of a variety of different fruits.

He realized that Irynya asked him a question while he chewed the piece of pineapple. It wasn't his favorite fruit but it was nutritious, "I'm sorry, I'm not much of a conversationalist. Its something that I've always have had to work on." Kennedy was pleased that he was able to string a couple of sentences together in the presence of Lieutenant Irynya. He realized he hadn't answered her question, "I'm settled for the most part, yes. I don't have much to bring with me as I'm a minimalist when it comes to personal effects as a medical officer -- now an assistant department head -- will probably get much personal time."

Kennedy realized he should ask her if she's settled in, "What about you?"

Irynya giggled despite herself then, seeing the look that garnered, stopped herself. "I'm sorry," she said only half meaning it. "It's just, you just asked me that." Her eyes danced even as she worked to keep a grin of amusement off of her face.

"Sorry," Kennedy's face reddened with embarrassment, he hadn't realized he had already asked her that. He was nervous, particularly in her presence. He took a moment to look into his mug of tea. He picked it up and took a sip from it, "As I've said, I'm not the best conversationalist." He took another sip of his tea.

She was struck again by the sound of his voice which sounded so musical despite his evident embarrassment. "You said something like that last night too. Something about not being the best dancer. Maybe you're selling yourself a touch too short? I mean... Dancing the hula doesn't necessarily constitute even a passing familiarity. Although..." Iry was surprised to find her own cheeks reddening as she recalled the last words she had spoken to him the night before. Good heaven what he must think of her!

She let the sentence hang draining her own coffee to cover up the blush she felt creeping up the back of her neck.

"So," she re-started, changing the subject, "where are you from?"

Doctor Ryan Walsh's cheek color went a little brighter when she brought up the dancing. He couldn't stop thinking about the two of them standing together dancing, "I had a great dance tutor". He thought he said as an internal monologue but it came out at a tone she could hear from across the table but she had changed the conversation. "I'm from Drogheda, Ireland. What about you? I know, you're from Risa... but its a moderately big planet."

Embarrassment averted, Irynya let a genuinely warm smile cross her features. "I can't say that I've heard of Drogheda. You'll have to tell me about it sometime."

She fiddled with her mug as she continued, "Actually I am from Delphi. I practically grew up at the Grand Delphinium. My parents run an atomospheric sky diving experience that's based at the resort."

Glancing down she realized her mug was long since empty. She let out a sigh and tipped it in the direction of Kennedy as if to show off its lack of contents. "I guess that's my cue to go get my stuff moved into my room."

She hesitated then inspecting her cup as if it might somehow miraculously fill with more coffee and knowing that she should move on, but still curious about the Irishman across the table.

"Skydiving sounds very scary," Kennedy commented and it wouldn't be something he could see himself doing unless it was on the Holodeck with all the safety measures in effect. It was unlike him to offer to help but the words coming out of his mouth betrayed him, "I mean, I could help you move in. If you need any help, or...?"

Irynya looked up from her extended coffee cup inspection a touch faster than necessary, a warm smile lighting up her features and her cheeks pinking just a bit. After awkwardly navigating a conversation with her less than a day after being dragged into the dancing ring she had imagined he would be glad for the excuse to escape. His offer surprised her and she couldn't help but feel almost weirdly shy as a result.

"Uh," she began, "Yeah, that would be lovely. I'm on deck 4. I'll just..." she gestured with the mug indicating a plan to return it to the replicator, "Then we can go?" Somehow her explanation came out a question rather than the confident statement she had intended.

"Deck Four?" Kennedy gulped a question rhetorically yet mostly incoherently.

"Uh-what, a, coincidence. I'm also on Deck 4..." Kennedy thought. "Of course. I still gotta finish my sandwich and my fruit salad." Kennedy went back to focus on eating while trying to keep one of his eyes on Irynya. He wasn't expecting her to agree to him to help her.

Iry drew out her trip to the replicator hoping to give the ACMO enough time to finish his breakfast before she returned. Still, it was a small room, and hard to make any trip across it seem long and so she was back at the table after only a moment. She stood awkwardly for a second trying to decide if she should sit back down and then determining that would seem odd she nodded to Kennedy, let him know that she was ready when he was, and then went to stand next to the window where she could take in a last good look at the stars and her home planet nestled amongst them.

Kennedy had eaten most of his breakfast sandwich and his fruit salad. He looked over to see Irynya heading back over to their table. He wasn't certain what she was signing before realizing it was her notifying him that she was ready to go. He nodded his head and rose to his feet. He gathered his utensils and the coffee mug back on the tray and carried it over to the replicator to dematerialize before walking over to Irynya.

He smiled at her, "Shall we?"

The smile that lit Kennedy's face caught Irynya off guard nearly as much as his offer of help. Up to that point, his facial expressions had bordered on the sort of smile you give to an animal to signal that you aren't a threat. A real smile, she noticed, caused the corners of his eyes to crinkle and made the planes of his cheekbones stand out where his mouth turned up at the edges. She decided, immediately, that it was well worth it to coax a smile like this from him.

"Let's," she said simply in reply before leading the way out of the mess hall and to the nearby turbolift. The rid from deck 2 to deck 4 was brief and neither of them spoke until they stepped out onto deck 4.

"I'm this way," Irynya noted, pointing to their left down the corridor before heading in that direction.

"So am I," Kennedy followed Irynya's lead down a series of corridors that were becoming awfully familiar. Of course, customarily Starfleet vessels bulkheads were quite similar but he felt that he's been down this maze only an hour or so prior to running into Irynya down in the Crew's Mess. He raised his hand, drawing his pointing finger to the door indicating which quarters he was in. In almost a unison of body movement and speech, they both spoke.

"This is me."

=/\= A Mission Post By =/\=

Lieutenant Junior Grade Irynya
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer
USS-Sojourner

Lieutenant Junior Grade Kennedy Ryan Walsh
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS-Sojourner