Away Team Selection

Posted on Wed Jun 23rd, 2021 @ 4:35am by Lieutenant Kennedy Ryan Walsh & Lieutenant JG Irynya

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Timeline: Mission Day 4 at 1000

Doctor Kennedy Ryan Walsh had been notified that he had been selected to join the Away Team. He had scurried away from Sickbay after Doctor t'Nai had informed him. He hadn't been given an Away Team assignment until today. While he was now an assistant department head, he still had the mentality of having a lower deck mindset. He stepped into the Turbolift and his hands scurried through his hair as he began to stress out, sweat began to drip from his forehead.

"Deck 4," Kennedy ordered as the Turbolift began to move. The Turbolift stopped and a few others stepped in. Is it starting to get warm in here? Is he about to have a panic attack? Kennedy began to breathe in deeply before the Turbolift stopped. He shuffled through after realizing that it was his stop. "Sorry." He almost ran down the corridor to his quarters. Fresh uniform, maybe bring a pair of extra underwear in his doctor's kit? Damnit, he forgot his doctor's kit in Sickbay.

He got to the door. It opened and he stepped in. He placed his back against the wall as he took in a few deep breathes for thirty seconds to calm down.

Irynya stepped out of her room trying to decide if she was hungry or just wanted to take a walk. Her eyes lit on Kennedy leaning against the wall just inside their door, eyes closed, breathing in and out steadily.

"Kennedy?" she asked, concern coloring her voice. He looked like he had seen a ghost and though he was taking measured breaths those breaths were shaky. "Are you ok?"

Not thinking she hurried across the room stopping just short of him to avoid startling the Irishman.

Kennedy slowly nodded his head. His breathing exercises had settled him down a few notches, "I've been selected."

Irynya met his eyes, not quite understanding what he was saying. "Selected... for...?" she started. As she spoke she realized she was standing perhaps a bit uncomfortably close and took a step back. "Uh, do you want to sit down?" she asked, awkwardly as she moved over to the sofa they all shared.

Kennedy didn't realize how close Irynya was standing to him. He didn't realize she moved over to the couch, "Sitting down might help." He looked over to see her moving to the couch. He slowly followed her and sat down. Closely to her but absent-mindedly, "I've been selected." He repeated.

Kennedy's behavior was starting to worry the pilot. Gently she asked, "I'm sorry, I may be missing an obvious thing, but selected for what?" She had begun to consider unpleasant options, cycling through a few before 'selected for reassignment' stuck. "You're not leaving are you?"

"Yes, leaving." Kennedy took in a few more deep breathes.

Irynya's face fell. Somehow in the few days she had known him she had become rather attached to the notion of getting to know Kennedy Ryan Walsh better. The thought of reassignment just as they were arriving at their destination in Klingon space was disconcerting at best.

"I..." she began, trying to put into words what she was thinking. "I don't understand. You were just assigned to the Sojourner. Why would they reassign you so quickly? Is it..." she paused realizing her possible error. "Is it a good thing? A promotion? Should I be congratulating you? I'm so sorry, I was sure you were stressed, but..."

Kennedy looked over at Iryna. He didn't mean to cause her any distress due to his own. He shook his head lightly, "I'm not leaving leaving..." He lowered his head almost shamefully, "I'm just stressing out because I've been selected to go on an Away Team. I know its foolish to act this way, but I've never been on one before." He took in a deep breathe.

An odd sense of relief washed over Irynya as Kennedy's words came into clarity. "Oh!" she said, the relief echoing in her voice. "That's awesome, Kennedy!" His last sentence fell into place a moment later. "It's not foolish," she remarked, steel in her voice. "Gosh, when I was suddenly the lead pilot of the Adelphi in the Delta Quadrant I was sure I was going to fly us directly into the nearest gravity well. It's new. It's ok to be stressed. But I'm sure you'll be great. They wouldn't have picked you if they didn't think so."

Kennedy nodded, "Well I'm glad that you, never, entered, a gravity well. That would have been bad. Very bad. Also I wouldn't have had the pleasure in meeting such an outstanding person."

Irynya felt a blush creep up her neck, pinking her cheeks slightly at the compliment. "Thanks," she said quietly.

There was an awkward silence then as she stared at her hands unsure of what to say next. Finally, unable to stand the quiet any more, she ventured another question. "So, why does the away team mission stress you out?"

"I've never accompanied an Away Team before let alone one with the XO and members of the senior staff," Kennedy replied. "I know, it's weird that in two years in Starfleet, it just hasn't happened. But now that I'm an assistant department head, I get new opportunities to experience."

"New opportunities are good, though, right?" she asked, eyeing Kennedy as she did. "You get to see new things and learn new things and... well... Captain Kodak is pretty great to work with. And you'll be right there in the middle of everything while they try to figure out this puzzle. Who knows, you might even be the one to crack it. How cool would that be?"

"They're good but they're also equally frightening," Kennedy replied with a straight face. "I do love puzzles though... "

The quiet descended again, making Irynya feel antsy. Normally a lull in a conversation wouldn't bother her, but she couldn't help feeling like there was surely some way she could help Kennedy feel less anxious. She inspected her fingers again, trying hard not to study his features for clues about what to say next.

Kennedy took in another deep breath. His stress seemed to have eased tenfold from the levels they were at when he entered their quarters. He looked over at Irynya, looking at her fingers. He smiled softly and without a thought, "You have lovely hands."

Irynya splayed her fingers out in front of her as if she somehow saw them for the first time, the blush from earlier creeping back in. When did she turn into someone who blushed?

"Kennedy..." she said, inspecting her fingers as she spoke, "... I really don't know what to say when you say things like that." Honesty seemed the best route here and, being truthful, she really didn't feel like she had a read on the man next to her. On the night of the beach party, she had been playing a role and had thrown an extra bit of playfulness into the mix--feeling her Risian roots so to speak. But since then she had found herself on unusually uncertain footing.

"I..." Kennedy looked over at her, he didn't know if she was embarrassed by his compliment but she seemed to be stressed about it. He rose to his feet, "I'm not good at these sort of things. Sorry," Kennedy nodded his head. "I'm gonna go get a fresh uniform and than hit the sonic shower. I'm hoping to freshen up before I go on my first Away Mission."

Realizing that her comment had not landed the way she intended she rose quickly as well speaking at the same time that he explained his plan to go change. "Oh, no," she stammered, "You're fine. It's very nice of you. I just meant..." She came to a sudden halt as she realized she was talking over him.

"I'm sorry, " she said when they both fell back into awkward silence. "Thank you for the compliment."

"It's okay," he turned around to face her, "you don't need to say you're sorry. You're welcome." He took another step closer to her, "I would ask if I could hug you but stress makes me a sweat case. And that's gross."

A giggle burst forth from the Risian--reaction to the relief that he wasn't upset and the unexpectedness of his admission. Not bothering to ask she stepped in to the Irishman, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, but briefly before stepping back. "A little sweat never bothered me," she noted, eyes twinkling mischievously. "Go get cleaned up. You've got a puzzle to help solve."

Her mischievous comment was lost on him. He wrapped his arms around her waist lightly enjoying the comfort between the two of them. He nodded his head before breaking away from her, "I better go do that."

Giggling lightly again Irynya nodded, returning to the sofa and pulling her legs up underneath her. "I'll look forward to hearing all about it when you're back. Now, go!"

Kennedy nodded and hurried into his room to get a fresh uniform.

A Mission Post By

Lieutenant JG Irynya
Acting Chief Flight Controller

&

Doctor Kennedy Ryan Walsh
Assistant Chief Medical Officer