Three's A Crowd

Posted on Mon Jun 21st, 2021 @ 9:39pm by Lieutenant JG Sheldon Parsons & Lieutenant Kennedy Ryan Walsh & Lieutenant Irynya

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: Junior Officers' Quarters, Deck 4
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 1200

[Crew Quarters]
[Deck 4]
[USS Sojourner]

Doctor Kennedy Ryan Walsh remained in the common area of their quarters while Midshipman Noah Balsman exited their room to put the holo-Monarch Butterfly 'Mood' on its pedestal in their room. If Noah said goodbye, Kennedy didn't hear him as he was stuck with his anxieties and nerves. What did Sheldon mean by "Hope it won’t ruin your chance to see her lacey dainties", his voice constantly repeated this in Ryan Walsh's mind.

"Oh," Kennedy said out loud. "I, uh, I get it now. Ahhhh."

A voice of his consciousness familiar to his own mother's spoke, "You should be a man of your word and help your friends when you offer them their help."

Kennedy nodded and stepped forward to Irynya and Sheldon's door and pushed the chime. His hands felt a bit calmy so he rubbed them on his pants leg waiting for one of the two to indicate he was good to enter.

Irynya looked up from where she sat on the edge of her bed and made contact with Sheldon across the room in his own space as the chime sounded. Before answering she raised her eyebrows in question. "If there's something I need to know about you and Kennedy I'd like to know it sooner than later, ok?"

"You'll know when there's something to know," Parsons nodded, busying himself by opening one of his duffels and sorting through the contents.

"Come in," she called to trigger the doors which opened promptly to reveal Kennedy. The Irishman's arms were held slightly awkwardly at his sides, hands on the sides of his thighs as if he had been rubbing them just a moment before.

Kennedy's left arm raised for a slight wave at both Irynya and Sheldon, "How's moving in coming in.... peeps?" He winced at the usage of "peeps", he walked into their room fumbling over his own feet. He was able to balance himself.

Irynya suppressed a giggle as Kennedy tripped over his own feet, righting himself shortly after. She scooched back into the corner against the pillow on the bed and pointed to the end of the bed for Kennedy to sit. It was a small room for 3 of them and reminder her a bit of the Academy dormitories where she stayed during her first year.

"Apparently my things are in a queue. The quartermaster assured me he'd transport them in a few minutes, but that was... a few minutes ago. So no unpacking done here yet."

Kennedy awkwardly gazed at the foot of her bed and where she repositioned herself and to where Sheldon was. He didn't want to step on anyone as he almost tripped over his own feet and that was only in the doorway. He slowly sat down, worried that he would take up too much space, overcompensating for his small body frame sat on the edge of the bed. He smiled almost genuinely at Irynya and Sheldon but still pretty nervous that they would be living in close proximity of each other, "Ah. A lot, a lot, a lot of people coming onboard will do that." Kennedy winced at repeating himself like a broken record. He looked over to Sheldon, "Do you need any help?"

"And let you see my under-things? Heavens no," Parsons shook his head wildly. "But I appreciate the offer. Tell me, though...what does helping someone unpack really entail? Handling their clothes and asking which drawer to put them in? Seems counter-productive to me: most people would just pick their stuff up and decide where it goes without the need for much help. Or maybe your offer was to keep Irynya...and I guess now me," he clucked, "company while unpacking? Cramped quarters for that if you ask me," Parsons shrugged, reaching into a now-open duffel to remove a stack of immaculately pressed uniforms. "Pretty cozy in here, hmm?" There seemed to be a bit of an edge to his commentary, though why it was there was unclear.

Kennedy shrugged his shoulders backwards, he didn't know what unpacking meant. He just knew it was a social norm that people normally offer when a friend moves. The closest thing he had to a friend on board was Irynya and begrudgingly enough, Sheldon to a certain extent. He was excited at the opportunity to have a friend, "I'm not too sure." Maybe Sheldon wanted him to leave. Perhaps he should? He bit his bottom lip while looking over at Irynya.

Irynya caught Kennedy's discomfort and his glance, picking up on the uncertainty of the ACMO. Shooting a pointed glance at Parsons, she returned it with a smile. "Truthfully just keeping me company would be lovely. Tell me, us, about Drogheda. What was it like growing up on Earth?"

"Yes! Tell me all about it. I've never been," Parsons remarked dryly, having missed Irynya's pointed look entirely. He'd been turned around, stowing his dainties in a drawer in his small closet. Of course, Parsons was from Earth from himself, but it was hard to tell if his sarcasm about never having been there was really a joke or something else entirely. Was he extra prickly today for some reason? Maybe it was having his not-at-all-private space now invaded by another. He'd have to get used to that, though...unless they made a rule about no bedroom visitors?

"Well, it's," Kennedy dragged his fingers through his hair, "in Ireland. We've got a castle! Actually, we've got several..."

"I'm not sure I know what a castle is exactly..." Irynya began before the whir of a transporter beam interrupted her, the golden specs transforming from light to get belongings. "You're going to have to describe them a bit," she finished before scooting back across the bed, her arm accidentally brushing Kennedy's as she pushed herself up and moved to set one of the two cases in the space she had just left.

"Really? You're a... Princess and you don't know what a castle is?" Kennedy made a poor attempt at a compliment that may have come across as sarcasm. Her arm brushed up against his, "They were made out of stone and other variety of stones. They are across Ireland, the United Kingdom, and throughout Europe."

"A... Princess?" Irynya said, turning the word over in her mouth a moment, her hands lingered on the clasps of her trunk just a fraction of a moment longer than necessary. She had heard many compliments in her life--some genuine and others meant to convince or coerce her. She couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her face as she opened her trunk and began moving things into her own closet.

"Buildings then?" She said, focusing on his description.

"Princess Irynya," Kennedy genuinely smiled at her reply. He nodded his head, "Yes, they're buildings."

Princess Irynya? Sighhhhhhh. "Do you feel that?" Parsons suddenly asked, turning around to look at Irynya. "It's getting really thick in here. Like someone's slowly filling the room with anesthezine gas," his eyes drifted over to Kennedy, "and turning us all dopey and slow. Maybe we should call the Bridge?" he wondered aloud, not serious enough to make the call himself but voicing the concern all the while. "You know these new ships. Always some bugs to work out..." Parsons drawled in a high-pitched tone, overly focused on hanging his uniforms in his closet. "Or maybe," he said, head still inside the storage space, "it's just overly-dramatic sentiment clouding our brains?" In his mind, he saw an anime-style Irynya wearing Princess trappings all glowing while twirling rainbows and star fire effused around her. She made a piece sign with one hand as word bubbles then spelled out "I'm a Princess! YEAH!" Another sigh from inside the closet let loose.

Irynya exchanged an amused glance with Kennedy that Sheldon could not see from where he was so adamantly focused on putting things away.

"Is that a bit like having our quarters invaded by foreign insect species?" she inquired sweetly back to him.

Parsons opened his mouth to reply but, at that moment, a chirp sounded from Irynya's combadge.

"Kodak to Irynya," the device relayed, the Captain's voice filling their quarters as one. Irynya paused, reaching over to her pillow where the badge lay and tapping it lightly.

"Irynya here," she replied noting that both men had paused and were listening in. "What can I do for you sir?"

"I need to see you in my Ready Room. Nothing bad," the Captain promised, a smile in his voice. "Can you come up as soon as possible?"

"Absolutely sir," she replied, "I'll be right there. Irynya out." She tapped the badge lightly to close the commlink and then glanced at both Kennedy and Sheldon. "Well, it seems I will have to finish the rest of my unpacking later." She pushed the half unpacked trunk to the wall and hefted the other up beside it. Pulling a neatly folded uniform out of the second trunk she turned, "See you both later?" And without waiting for a reply, she made her out of the room to the bathrooms to change before heading to the Bridge.

Left alone with Kennedy, Parsons poked his head out of the closet in Irynya's wake. "Well that was a quick exit. I wonder what the Captain wants?" He extricated himself from the small storage area and returned to his bed, where an open duffel bag sat there waiting. From within, he pulled out a photograph lined by a burnished, steel frame. Setting it down on his nightstand, he took a moment to look at the photo and reflect on the faces of his depicted family. Reaching out, he touched the face of his mother and said, "Miss you, mom."

The tone in his voice implied that Parsons' mother was more than just a comm call away. There was a heaviness in his voice, as if it was hard for him to say those words out loud. But say them, he did, and in front of Kennedy, too. Using his uniform sleeve, Sheldon wiped away the fingerprint he'd left and then turned to the doctor. "Sorry, I'm a bit prickly today. It's kind of an anniversary that I dread every year," he lamented, his eyes drifting back to the photo. "In any event, I'm glad we're all rooming together. If that dreadful butterfly attacks me, at least I won't have to wait long for a doctor," Sheldon said, a half-smile forming on his face.

Kennedy didn't know if he should leave after Irynya left to leave Sheldon alone to unpack. He recognized the two had tension growing between the two of them since yesterday evening. He did accidentally spill seventy-five percent of his drink down his backside at the Sojourner's send off party the other night. Kennedy did profusely apologize to the man for the spillage. He stroked his elbow that Irynya had touched briefly lightly before returning to the present. Hopefully the two men would start fresh, "I am sure I'll be able to put you back together if the Butterfly brings you any harm."

Kennedy rose from Irynya's bed and pointed, "Is that your Mum?"

"Um..." Parsons drawled, looking again back to the photo, "yes, it is. Millicent Beaudreaux Parsons," he explained, giving name to the smiling face shrouded in feathery, dirty-blonde hair. He picked up the frame once more and handed it to Kennedy so he could better see the family showcased there. "Used to go by Milly to her family and friends. Sweet, kind, and funny lady...gentle like an afternoon rain most of the time but if you crossed her," Sheldon smirked, "boy had you better watch out. It's funny how people can instantly go from get-a-long to get-lost in the space of a heartbeat, right?" This, of course, was asked with entire disregard for how he'd done the same not ten minutes prior.

"Sadly, we lost her a few years ago," Parsons continued, not waiting for Kennedy's answer. "Shuttlecraft accident on Kelvor II. Mom was there visiting some friends when the shuttle flew into an electrical storm. Why the shields weren't up, I still don't know. But the lightning destabilized the anti-grav boosters and killed the engines. It fell like a rock," he sighed, taking back the photo and again touching Milly's face. "Wish I'd been aboard with her..." Whether Sheldon meant being aboard in hopes of fixing the shuttle or dying with his mother went unsaid.

Kennedy was uncomfortable with Parsons' last comment, "Well... I'm sorry to hear about you losing your mother. I bet that was tough, a tough thing to go through. Anyway, I'm gonna go back to my bunk and maybe get an hour or two of shut-eye before I have to report for my first shift." Kennedy made his way to the door to exit Parsons and Irynya's room. He wondered why she was called to the bridge to meet the Captain. He'd never met a Captain before, only in passing once or twice in Sickbay on his last posting.

And just like that, Kennedy was gone. Sheldon was left with his own thoughts, both about the past and the present. He decided -- as he once again set the photo back in place -- that the present much more dictated the needs for his mental energies right now. With the stiffening of his spine, Parsons stood and made his way out of the small room. He'd head for Engineering and try to put his thoughts into work -- that had always helped in turbulent times in the past. It'd be enough, right? He hoped so, at least.


=/\= A joint post by... =/\=

Ensign Sheldon Parsons
Engineering Officer
USS Sojourner

and

Lt. JG. Irynya
Acting Chief Flight Controller
USS Sojourner

and

Doctor Kennedy Ryan Walsh
Assistant Chief Medical Officer
USS Sojourner