Assisting the Assistant

Posted on Tue Jul 30th, 2024 @ 4:49am by Ensign Davna

1,897 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Terrorpin
Location: Captain Mahone's Cabin, Haumea Colony
Timeline: One Month Before the Mission

It was not typical for Davna to have people accompany her while she was helping the Captain tidy up his things. While infrequent, in times of stress, Luka did require a soft hand to at least remind him that he had a life outside of commanding a Starfleet base. And on some level, Davna did not mind assisting him. He was always so sweet to her, in such a way that she had never experienced before. Almost like... a big brother?

Her feelings on the Captain certainly changed since they made a home on Haumea. Originally, she was assigned as his yeoman to see if he could chill. Perhaps in ways inappropriate for someone in Command. But he always deflected her flirty attempts, to the point where she swore he simply didn't notice them. Instead, he was a warm soul for her to come to when everyone else saw a 'hot Orion.'

And on many levels, she truly appreciated it.

Perhaps it was her feelings that made this task so hard that she asked for some of the more trusted nurses to come help her. One, an older Caitian woman with a black and patchy pattern to her fur, took it upon herself to make sure his bedroom had clean sheets and was all in order for when he returned. And while it was unspoken, all of the other nurses steered clear. Davna remembered the woman from when she strode right past her desk one day, stopping only to ask if the Captain had a meeting. On confirmation that he did not, she continued right into her office, and Davna felt as compelled as Haechi did that day to let her do whatever she wanted.

Luka seemed happy when she left, as if he had seen an old friend.

"You think he's into older women?" asked one of the nurses, who was hard at work reprogramming one of the cleaning robots to clean the dried blood all over the floor. "Think that's why she's in there? Marking her scent all over everything?"

The hushed giggles from the other nurses had Davna pause and look over in annoyance. "Really? You think I'd let her in there if she was his paramour?"

"Let her? You try to stop her!" came the retort from another nurse, a Gideon male who was clumsily trying to right the Captain's windowsill garden. "I'm not going in there. She might rip my face off."

Davna rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly. That's also racist."

"God, you would say that," came the third nurse, a fiery-haired human female who found herself washing many weeks old dirty dishes with what she assumed was soap and water. The Captain did prefer his more down to earth methods of living. "Davna, it's Cireve. She's got a rep in the hospital."

"Is it a 'Don't Mess With Me Because You're Racist' rep?" Davna shot back in annoyance, "Leave her alone. Just because she's Caitian doesn't mean she'll rip your face off. She might if you give her a reason to - which shouldn't be walking into the room and asking her questions."

The Gideon nurse let out a derisive snort. "You haven't seen her with the unruly patients yet. She-" he stopped when he glanced over at Davna and received A Look. "... She's not the most hospitable, let's put it that way."

"If the Captain didn't want her on the colony, he wouldn't have her there," added the first nurse, who seemed to give up on the technology in front of her. "And no one's given her sterling reviews either. She's cold. Real cold."

Davna gave a look to the door that led to Luka's room. She herself had decided to straighten up the various PaDDs and things that were scattered about. Firstly because she was the one who had the authority to even look at half of it, but mostly because she wanted to keep an eye on the nurses in front of her. They may have been the most trustworthy she could find off duty, but she still had her doubts with the three in front of her.

She should have just brought Cireve with her. "It's not romantic. Trust me, he's not like that."

"OoooooOOOoOoOooOoOOOooo~" the trio had an eerie unison to their taunting, but it was the third who continued. "You'd know best, Davna. Does he like his girls green and young?"

"Ew!" Davna's nose crinkled at the thought. She was sure he would be the same. "No, he's not like that either. Leave him alone. He's not even here to defend himself. I didn't ask you guys to come to gossip."

And that earned a chorus of laughter. The dish nurse gave her a wink and a grin. "Don't worry, what happens here stays here. We just wanna know what he's into. Drake here was curious 'cause he's into the Captain."

The Gideon male, Drake, looked down at the soil and plants in front of him. "Come on, it's not like that. He's eye candy. I couldn't maintain something with a Captain like that."

The other two giggled at him, while Davna's cheeks grew darker in tone. "Guys, he's not here to pair up. I think he's already got someone anyways, so can it. All three of you." On some level, Davna knew that Luka's heart had been taken lightyears away to someone he had a hard time communicating with. Someone that, if Davna ever saw again, she would find her strength and punch him right in the face. She had seen the Captain's sad looks and quiet, sullen moods. No one hurt her Captain like that and got away with it.

The chorus of "ooOOooOOoooooo~" snapped her back to reality. "Seriously guys, his love life is none of anyone's business. Give him some privacy."

"Says the girl who invited us to his private home to help 'tidy up.'" Drake turned to the other two nurses. "Who do you think he's dating?"

"I bet it's that hunky Marine!"

"Nah, I think he's married."

"To what, his tank? Come on, dude's got no charisma to land himself a man or a woman."

"Then why would the Captain even give him the time of day?"

"Mmm good point, good point. Ooo, how about Gunnar?"

"God, the Lieutenant? No! He's straight as hell. Look at him!"

"Oh, I most certainly have. And how do you know he's straight? Have you asked? Maybe his love life is as private as the Captain's."

At the umpteenth chorus of 'oooooOooOoOOOOOooo', Davna let out an annoyed grunt, finally picking up the now neglected cleaning 'bot on the floor. If they just had eyes, they would see that half the crap the Captain had collected was from his person. But she did not want to get into that conversation. It was none of their business. "Look guys, if he wanted us all to know who his person was, he'd have told us."

"True, true..."

"Or maybe it's someone he doesn't want to have any limelight."

"He does go to the Silver Tongue a hell of a lot."

Davna's next noise was received with a moment of silence. And another moment as the woman finally made sense of the tangle of wires and isochips in front of her, slamming a compartment shut and letting the automated robot perform its cleaning tasks.

But that silence only lasted so long. "It's the brewmaster."

"ohMIGOD yes!" The eruption of incoherent gossip and giggles between the three ended when the fiery-haired nurse let out a, "That's why he doesn't want us to know. Because it's an alcohol dude."

"Why does that matter?"

"Drake, think about it! You're talking about someone who's whole life is brewing and beer. Think about how that'd look to the press; Captain Mahone, an Alcoholic? God, it'd be all over everything."

"It already is. Haven't you seen the Haumea sector of Federation News? They love to diss on him. They still do! It's not a secret he goes there all the time."

"That's it, isn't it Davna? Is that why you're so tight-lipped about it? Because he's canoodling that handlebar?"

Davna closed her eyes tight, and for the first time in her life found herself rubbing her temples with a hand. "Guys, how many times do I have to tell you-"

"HE IS!"

The chatter continued on between the three, and at that point Davna decided to let it go. She would just have to remind herself later to warn Luka, whenever he popped back up, that he was going to have a lot of questions and comments to field about his love life. The fact that anyone even talked about it sort of seemed a bit... basic. Maybe if she pointed out the obvious signs in the room, they would at least get it.

"I believe everyone two planets down can hear your childish conversation."

Cireve's harsh tone cut through the gossip, hushing the trio of nurses and immediately getting back to their tasks. The patchy Caitian tilted her head to Davna. "Captain Mahone deserves more respect than this. Not a gaggle of gossiping nurses in his own home while he is not here to answer your silly questions." While the trio picked up their pace, Cireve made her way to Davna, offering a warmth in her gaze that the others would never see. "His room is clean of everything except the hair of all of his pets," she explained. "Everything is in place."

"Thank you, Nurse Eiclaws," Davna stated, grateful that she would not have to go in there herself. She would never admit it, but the support she had from Cireve was more than she ever expected. "I do appreciate it."

"Of course." The warmth disappeared as Cireve searched the room. "You are aware of his missing plant from the planter, yes?"

"It's been listed, yes." Davna's eyes shot to the hole left by the missing plant, which had managed to grow into a beautiful, blue flower with the planet's light. "He never told me where he got it from, but he was real fond of it."

"He received it from a Changeling dignitary," Cireve explained simply, before revealing the item in her hands; the crumpled petals of the odd plant. "I found this in his room. And I am of high belief that would not have been missed in the security team's original sweep."

Davna's eyes fell on the petals. Cireve was right; Helena was way too thorough to let this slip through. And if there was something that was missed, she was fairly certain any other sweeps done would have caught it. The fact that it was caught so long after was... odd. "I think we'll have to take that to the Science Labs."

"I believe we are in agreement." Davna would not point it out, but she was certain she heard a soft... purr? coming from Cireve. "He is lucky to have you in his life, watching out for him. Even if he is... not present."

"I-" Davna stopped herself from protesting, her mother's words echoing through her head. Don't let the men have all the fun while you're out carving a life for yourself.

Instead, she smiled. "Thank you. I think I needed to hear that."

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