Mood Pizza

Posted on Wed Jun 23rd, 2021 @ 2:02pm by Ensign Noah Balsam & Lieutenant JG Irynya

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: Debbie's Diner; Deck Seven-Aft
Timeline: Mission Day 2 at 2200

[Debbie's Diner]
[Deck 7]
[2200 hours]

Noah Balsam yawned, and rested his chin on his hypermobile wrist. Curls of black hair bobbed to music, their origins obscure by the mess that was his natural hair flow over his ears. The dark bags under his eyes hadn't resolved, but neither had they advanced, after Lieutenant Giorgiou had elected he should nap for an hour after he'd completed the Bussard Ramscoop diagnostic. Noah, to be honest, could not remember where he'd fallen asleep. He remembered- albeit vaguely- a collection of three potted snake plants and cushions. And a neck crick.

With his lack of good sleep though, his mind easily drifted. And he was hungry- hungry for more than the empty calories of popping candy that had been between now and his last solid meal with Debbie Gless over quesadillas and cheese sticks. He'd redone the scans at Debbie's behest when she's managed to swap out the Mess for the larger space of the Aft Lounge. In a way it made it easier- easier to compose the environment she wanted in a place meant for carousing rather than the even more sterile replimat-and-go of the second deck Mess.

Noah yawned again. The music changed. Long fingers fished off a piece of orange-stained, browned chicken from a base of cilantro, and white sauce- buffalo chicken flatbread was hardly nutritional or good for him, but it tasted nice. Noah's head bobbed to the rapid beat of the music while he suckled the buffalo sauce off the chicken and then pushed the rest into his mouth.

His finger flicked and while he bobbed- almost headbanged- to some kind of J-Pop called, "Speedy-Speed Boy," Noah flipped through a novella titled, "Dalek Resurrection." His fingers prepared to snake the crust to take a bite as his eyes scanned the action.

Irynya had entered Debbie's new space more than a little excited for the experience. The transformation of the place had been thrilling and she was glad for the opportunity to spend more than a few minutes taking it in since the reveal that morning. She clutched a tray in front of her, PADD tucked underneath as if itw as part of a pile of books on top of which she balanced her food. Debbie's new kitchen had more than delivered on the food options and a steaming pile of fries covered with gravy and chunks of melting cheese nestled next to a mushroom and blue cheese topped wagyu burger.

She scanned the space, fingers twitching so that she could shift the PADD to a slightly more stable position. Finally, her eyes settled on the form of Noah Balsam--the only roommate of whom she had seen little to none of since they had moved in. Not even considering if he would want company she made her way over to his table, clearing her throat as she arrived. "Is that spot taken?"

The cat-like, almond shape of brown eyes blinked up at the shadow that had cast over his reading. "Hi-Hi. Um. Irynya." Noah winced while he pulled out an earbud, "Sorry, um, music. What-did... cuh-can I help?" He asked, clearly having not been able to hear what she'd said.

Irynya grinned, a small apology written across her features as she did so. "Oh, sorry," she said, lifting the tray in two hands as if to indicate Noah's ears. "I didn't notice those. Mind if I join you?" She indicated the empty seat across form him with her head, waiting expectantly for his confirmation.

Noah blinked in a moment of processing and then his eyes widened in realization, "Oh uh, yeah. Yeah sure. Um, One-one sec." Noah's long arms quickly began to gather, stack and set aside his work and play to clear space on the opposite side of the table. "There. Um." He gestured at the seat as he pulled both earbuds out of his ears and lifted his butt enough to push them into the small pocket in his uniform.

The Risian's grin widened. As gracefully as a person could do so, she settled herself and her tray into the booth, scooting across the bench until she was centered across from Noah. She eyed his meal, curious about the neon-colored meat dappling the flat dough square in front of him.

Delicately she selected a gravy and cheese fry at its end, somehow managing to lever the whole mess into her mouth without dripping any or getting it on her fingers. She chewed quickly and then gestured around her. "I hear this is your work?" she stated, the statement ending as a question.

Noah looked around with a humble flush, "Oh. I designed the matrix," he sniffed and pushed his unruly waves behind the small shell of his ear. "Debbie provided all-all the images. It's modeled after her place in Philadelphia." He looked about, "Music and all. I-I think she's happy now." He blinked. "How are... are things on the Bridge?"

Irynya turned in her seat, visibly taking in her surroundings. "You did all of this from some images?" She shook her head. "You're far too humble, Balsam."

Noah blushed and rubbed the flat of his nose with a gentle shrug, "Oh. Well. M-maybe. But that's... I guess... typical for me."

She returned to her food, taking a few more bites before answering his question. "The Bridge is..." she hesitated, searching for the right word. She gestured with a lone french fry as she tried to settle on the right word. "Well, it's like it always is. Except now I have to manage people rather than just pilot us places. I'm sure all of the other pilots were expecting Lieutenant Timmoz. And I'm not him. So..." she shrugged, leaving the thought hanging and nibbling the fry she had been gesturing with.

"So... Mood... Has Starfleet Medical picked him up yet? He's really brilliant."

Noah shook his head, "Oh. No. He's just a... well... he was a thesis. For Interface Systems Practicum 441? Um." Noah's brows knitted with thought, "I haven't heard back from the engineers in Oakland... at-at Starfleet Medical I mean. Not yet. Honestly..." he sighed, "Getting a new program in, um, regular use? It takes a lot of time. And a lot of patience. There's a lot of hoops to jump through."

He chewed his lip, "I mean theoretical designs for the original EMH were on the, um," he gestured with a roll, like he was keeping himself on track, "On the drawing board as early as 2356... Zimmerman used the EMH concept as a doctoral thesis. Maddox was looking to, um, reproduce a Soong-type Android as early as, uh, twenty-2364. And-and we didn't even have Maddox-type Synthetics really online until 2382."

Noah stilled because he felt like he'd talked too much. "Sorry for the geek out. Uh. So... you're Risian?"

Irynya studied the younger man in front of her, a look of curiosity settling on her features. "That's the second time you've redirected the conversation to me from a discussion of really cool things that you're doing," she noted gently. "I think your geek out is cool. That's really interesting history. Geek out all you like. You've got a sympathetic ear."

She poked the last couple fries on her plate, popping them into her mouth in rapid succession and then sucking any minuscule amount of detritus from the ends of her fingers as she did so before adding. "I am Risian, yes."

Noah grimaced and again pushed his waves behind his ear, "It's a force of um, habit. It's easier to listen to somebody else than, uh, talk about myself." Noah finally picked up a cold slice of pizza and allowed himself a bite. He covered his mouth with a shielding hand while he chewed. "Enceladus is uh, a colony of Introverts." He brushed off his fingers on his napkin, "That-that's where I'm from. It's a moon around Saturn. Pretty different from Risa..."

Irynya nodded her understanding as he spoke. "A colony of introverts," she repeated. "You have, probably, already determined that I'm not an introvert," she noted. "But I do think all experiences are interesting and worthy of discovery. What's it like living in a place where most of the people are introverts?"

Noah first nodded that Irynya was definitely not an introvert, and then considered her question. "Small groups of friends... less big parties," he noted after a moment. "It's-it's probably not that different... just more time to yourself. You end up valuing the time with friends... and-and don't feel so pressed to be social when all you want to do is be in your solo interests." Noah bit his pizza again with further consideration, "More socially awkward too." He added behind the shield of his hand.

"How did you get into piloting?"

Irynya let the fresh redirect slide, deciding not to press Noah further on the matter. But she couldn't help a twinge of uncertainty around whether she had, as so many extroverts do, unwittingly disrupted her roommate's desired alone time.

"My parents own a sky diving and flora-fauna tour business on Risa. And because of that they own a shuttle. I've been piloting that shuttle since I was maybe..." she paused a second clearly counting backwards in her head, "...I don't know eleven or twelve?" Her fingers made for her bowl of fries and, finding it empty, she shifted over to pick up her the drink she had nearly forgotten she brought with her. "Some of our sky diving excursions were at night. We used to describe it as diving into a pool of stars because you'd be leaving the shuttle to land in the water where all of the stars were reflected. I used to imagine that I was actually out among those stars and... well... eventually I decided I wanted to be."

She downed the rest of her drink and set it back on her tray. A beep from her PADD reminded her that she was due for a duty check-in with the other pilots. She frowned at, sliding out of the booth as she did. "Duty calls, I guess," she said.

Noah had given her his direct attention, and he'd listened. He had questions- about whether they did orbital skydiving too, or hang-gliding, or paragliding. His mouth opened to ask a question when her PADD beeped. He recognized on it the orange circle cue that her shift should resume. He nodded with respect. "Oh. Well nice talking to-to you, Irynya," he blinked, uncertain what else to say. He didn't know her, but he had to share a lot of intimate space with her. It was like there was no way to ask enough questions or the right questions to understand someone before they ended up sharing a common space. Noah remembered feeling the same each year of Academy.

"Back uh, to the Bridge?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

Like before she tucked her PADD under her tray, situating it so she could stabilize the stack while she walked. "Thanks for the company," she said, a genuine smile echoing in her eyes.

Noah smiled back and opened his mouth to say something, but Irynya beat him to it. His dark eyes blinked and he listened.

She turned to go then, but paused after a step, turning back as a thought occurred to her. "You should show Mood to Dr. t'Nai. She might let you run trials in Sickbay to collect more data. Couldn't hurt in case Starfleet Medical decides to move forward." She smiled then and lifted a hand from her tray for a second to wave. "See you at home," she said, and then turned to head for her shift.

Noah's brows rose with some sparkle of appreciation in his eyes. "That-that's a great idea. I'll, um, I'll ask her." Noah bobbed his head. "See you back there," he agreed with another pleasant smile and a waggle of his long fingers. He watched her go and then pushed his earbuds back into his ears. He picked up his Dalek Resurrection story but after a moment he closed it down. With a chew of his lip, his fingers went into motion. And in blue titling, his PADD read, "Mood: Pediatric Vitals Assessment Concept," listed by a year old Stardate.

Noah touched his earbud and a small holographic appeared. He flicked his finger until he poked at a song title: Oingo Boingo. Weird Science. He pressed play.

A Post By:

Lieutenant JG Irynya
Assistant Chief Helm Officer

&

Midshipman Noah Balsam
Systems Specialist