Checking in

Posted on Friday March 12th, 2021 @ 22:42 hours by Mayterial Droz & Alexandria Farron

Mission: Safe Passage
Location: Bridge, Deck 1, SS Fawkes
Timeline: Before docking with Betazed orbital
2056 words - 4.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Mayterial had just come out of her discussion with Hirral when she stepped onto the bridge and wanted to have a word with Alexandria. She had seemed absentminded when she was in the meeting earlier that day. The navigator has almost seemed dejected when she had given her the order to delay as much as possible and she felt it necessary to have a conversation with her, "Miss Farron, how's everything going? All according to plan?" She knew that small talk wasn't the navigator's forte but she was hoping to put her mind at ease a bit with some shop-talk.

Alexandria stared straight ahead at her console, not speaking at first. She didn't look upset, but definitely annoyed and on edge. Usually the navigator was slouched or otherwise looking overly relaxed in her pilots chair. At the moment she looked like she was wearing uncomfortable pants, though in actuality she was wearing her favorite pair of leggings.

"I informed customs that our illustrious captain has opted to alter the final leg of our flight plan for a more circuitous route, so that she may treat us to a tour of the outer reaches of her beloved home system. I stressed that I'm a professional, and am normally against unplanned detours that may inconvenience customs officials, but my captain is a vain and sometimes unreasonable woman, who must be placated in order to ensure job security--a necessary consideration to have, I stressed, should they ever find themselves in pursuit of opportunities in the private sector." Alexandria deadpanned in one breath, still not looking at her captain.

"I think they believed me, as they approved our altered flight plan." Alexandria said, finally looking toward May. "Upon mention of your name, however, they dispatched a sensor probe on an intercept course. Probably to scan our holds. IT will reach us in approximately thirty-eight minutes. This may just be standard procedure though, and not necessarily a causal relationship. I wouldn't take it too personally." The navigator turned back to her console, as if to continue conducting her wholly unappreciated tour of the outer planets.

Mayterial was almost impressed with the lie that Alexandria had conjured up for the Betazed Authorities, but then she realised that in the navigator's mind she probably wasn't straying all that far from the truth, "Thank you for the heads up, I'll keep that in mind," She made her way over so that she could stand next to the pilot of her vessel, looking out through the front viewer of the ship, "it is a beautiful sight, though, you'd have to admit." She said as the detour would surely see them cruise past the more exotic places in the system.

She reached her hand aside and placed in on Alex' shoulder, without taking her eyes off the viewscreen, "You know, you don't have to be afraid of me," she tried to set the young woman's mind a bit more at ease, "I don't think I could find a more capable navigator even if I wanted to," her eyes drifted from the main viewer over to Alexandria, "and I really don't want to."

Alexandria stiffened a bit upon feeling May's hand on her shoulder. She looked at it, then up at the captain. And with a completely straight face said. "Are you asking me to marry you?" Alexandria paid no attention to the deckhand at the signaller station who sounded like he'd nearly choked on his saliva. This sure sounded like a proposal. Well, like one of the awkward ones in slow burn holovids. But Captain May knew that she already had a wife. And the two of them apparently didn't get along. So why would May want to be her second wife? Oh.... it all made sense now. That explained why the captain had been pressing her for an annulment.

Mayterial immediately pulled back her hand at that statement, "Why in the name of the four would you think something like that?" She shook her head and shot a glare at the deck hand manning the signaller station, making sure he'd shut up about this to other people, "You should really get out more. When we get to Betazed I should take you to a bar or something." She shook her head, "Let me know when the probe gets here," she started to step away from the navigator, "also don't hesitate to ask if you need anything else."

"I umm... sorry." Alexandria said, her tone sounding as suspicious as it was apologetic. "No one's ever really gone out of their way to ask me to stay before." In the navigator's experience, it was usually the opposite. Both her family and Starfleet had been quick in politely, but firmly showing her the door. "And well, I kinda figured you had watched Star Crossed Express or something." The vid was a tragic comedy with romantic undertones, and was about a freighter crew that wanted to make a clean profit, but could never seem to make it work now matter how hard they tried. Maybe Alexandria had just seen too many holovids... but it really sounded as if Captain May had taken her lines straight from that script.

Mayterial shook her head a bit, there was plenty of time to kill on the freighter, but for her there was equally as many tasks to fill that time. Some evenings she just found herself staring at the bulkhead across from her in her room. But she'd never really gotten into the whole holovid business, "Kari mentioned something about organising a holovid night, maybe you should team up." She thought that strengthening the thing the two seemed to have going on might encourage some personal growth in the navigator. She remembered how Alexandria had seemed very distracted in the meeting earlier and wondered what had been on her mind, "was there anything else you wanted to say or ask? Earlier it seemed like you might have."

Alexandria looked less than enthusiastic about the captain's suggestion. She would watch holovids with Kari, sure, but the rest of the crew? Odds were likely that out of everyone, at least one person would show up sick, and then she'd probably become sick. And if people started talking or acting out during the holovid, she would freak out. Plus if a bunch of people watched a holovid with her, that might give them the idea that they were now actually friends with her. Sure... Alexandria wouldn't have minded another friend or two, but please... she wasn't that desperate.

As for the other thing, the navigator didn't seem prepared to discuss it in front of others. She hesitated, and with shifty eyes glanced at the signaller, then back to May, not realizing that the motion was lost through her dark sunglasses.

There was a slight twitch, barely enough to notice. Alexandra was difficult to read, even for someone with her skills and genetic disposition. Luckily she had been around the jittery navigator long enough to pick up on it. Mayterial looked over at the deck hand in the signaller seat, "Take a break, Emerson" she waited for him to get up and get out of the confines of the bridge before leaning up against the console he vacated, facing the navigator on the other side, "out with it, Miss Farron" she put one leg over the other and leaned back, arms crossed, wondering what had the navigator so nervous.

Alexandria blinked, realizing it had been a while since she and the captain had been alone together. She almost still half expected a cat assassin to leap out from somewhere to get her, but the navigator was no longer so certain that Captain May really wanted her dead. She probably just wanted her scared... despite what she'd said to the contrary only a few moments before.

"Uhhm... I wanted to ask for a pay advance. I've heard Betazed isn't a cheap place to spend shore leave." Alexandria said, glad she was wearing sunglasses to hide her wince. She was absolutely terrible at managing any amount of wealth. Whenever she got her hands on latinum, she spent it on holovids, computer games, cosplay and organic hair dye. Granted none of those things were terribly expensive, but with the museum heist factored in... she'd spent two months' wages going all out on designer professional attire in order to look legit government official and not some lowlife thief. She'd had to. The ship's replicator couldn't even manage a pair of jeans that fit... she had to steal the captain's. Alexandria figured it would be a long shot trying to write off Rigellian spider-silk pantyhose that cost twenty strips a pair as a work-related expense, so asking for a pay advance was really her only other option.

"Oh, no, it really isn't," Mayterial shook her head, remembering how quickly her paycheck always evaporated when she returned home to Betazed, "I'll make sure you'll have some spending money." The Fawkes wasn't exactly raking in the GPL but with the passengers and the cargo from the last run it was possible to give out some early paychecks, "It's a good idea, maybe the others might like that as well," She pushed herself off from the console, "you do know that you'd get a bonus if you bring in new business, right? It's in your contract."

Alexandria wiggled ever so slightly in her seat after the captain granted her request. Yay! She probably wouldn't be rich, but at least she wouldn't be completely broke. She wasn't really into merchandise, but there was always a chance that one of the vendors at FantasyCon would have a cool tee shirt or beanie. Plus there was also the first date with Mierin that might or might not happen. But if it did, it would probably be better for her to have the means for pay for their meals. Her wife had recently gotten out of prison, and probably didn't have a job. Not a legitimate one anyway. After all, her last source of income had been from scamming Starfleet into believing that she and Alexandria were married.

"I uhh... don't really know anyone on Betazed. Not yet anyway. But I'll keep that in mind." Alexandria said as she steered Fawkes on a fly-by of one of Betazed System's outer planets, a ringless gas giant painted in dull shades of green and blue. Like Sol's Jupiter, it too had a massive storm system, forming a giant yellow spot. The navigator had read the contract, of course, but she was really at a loss as to how to bring in new business. She had a hard enough time just making basic conversation with people she already knew.

"You do that," Mayterial put another hand on her shoulder and gave it an encouraging squeeze, "and if you tell anyone that I proposed to you, I'll make sure the cat escapes again before you have time to dock." It was a bit too easy, and a bit too much fun, to yank Alex's chain. Before the navigator could reply she was already on her way out of the bridge and heading for the other people on the ship she still had to talk to. There was quite a lot of stuff that needed to be arranged and now she was on a time schedule with the incoming probe.

Alexandria's eyes went wide with shock after hearing the threat. though not because she believed the captain would actually follow through. No sane ship captain would deliberately seek to terrorize their own pilot during docking maneuvers. No, what shocked her was May's admission. So it had been a proposal. Honestly, Alexandria really couldn't tell if the captain really did love her, and/or want her dead. It could be both, right? The holovids were rife with similar claims from exasperated lovers. She'd never understood the dichotomy of love-hate relationships, and had always thought of them as a cliched plot device. Maybe they were real.

Reaching the gas giant, the navigator deftly made some final course adjustments to keep Fawkes from being pulled into a planetary orbit. With a sigh she slouched back in her seat and watched the tour all alone, hoping it would be enough for the crew to unscrew them from whatever mess had been created before the sensor probe arrived.