06-07-2024, 10:24 PM
== Day what you said. Imma buckle up for this! ==
Walking onto the Bridge, he nodded at the Officer on Watch while strolling straight toward the Ready Room doors. He wasn’t in uniform, so there was no need for anyone to really pay him any mind. Though he was wearing a dark gray unlined Artemis bomber jacket and ball cap, so most people still either acknowledged him or gave him a berth while walking. He wasn’t carrying anything either, which most people associated with him being on duty whenever he also had a PADD in hand.
No, Damian was on one singular mission for the moment. For some reason, it felt like enemy territory when it should have been anything but. That, he knew, was partly his fault. For the first couple of days back he had stewed, focusing on work instead of confronting the other problems head on. But after the last forty-eight hours, he knew that time was quickly running down to figure shit out.
Hitting the door chime, Coleman waited until he was bidden in by Tyra’s voice. The moment the door opened Damian regretted his timing. Jacket strewn on her desk, whiskey already in hand, body wearily on the couch, the entire setup felt like she’d had a rough day. Though Coleman knew there’d be no better days for the foreseeable future. Every moment would be slipstreaming towards an inevitable confrontation with some arm of Starfleet about their recent actions and, more specifically, a confession.
“Mind if I…?” he gestured forward, breaking his hesitant pause at her door.
Tyra lazily pointed to the bottle and muttered something along the lines of ‘help yourself’. Coleman had considered not imbibing, and instead trying to remain on somewhat equal footing with Tyra. Though after looking at the bottle, she’d barely broken into it, and so it didn’t much matter if he had a good sized glass.
Taking off the ball cap and tucking it under his arm, Damian strode forward and poured himself a sizable glass. With that done, he found a spot to sit across from Tyra, in one of the comfier chairs that were in the Ready Room. He didn’t quite flop into the chair, unlike how Tyra seemed to be on the couch, but he also did sit back and relax just a bit; despite the conversation that he was wanting to have. Coleman took a sip of the whiskey, and the moment it hit his tongue he closed his eyes. It was good. It was damn good. He soaked in that feeling for a moment, before looking back at Tyra, concern on his face.
“That good huh?” he asked rhetorically.
“It ain’t looking good for me either. I spent the last forty-eight in meetings with my rep. They’ve already starting digging into all of my files, and I got a notice of motion from JAG; they wanna go peeping into my duty and personal logs.”
Coleman sighed a little louder than he should have, but his frustration with the whole situation was trying to burst forth.
“I just don’t understand why Benjamin did it. I mean I do, but… damn it, he could have checked in with one of us first. Or at least you directly. Would have made all this mess a whole lot easier.”
And a whole lot of my past not dredged up.
“You should know,” he started, his eyes flittering down to the golden liquid inside the glass, “I’ve been told they’ve reopened a case from my past, a long while ago now. The things that went down on the Atlanta."
There were a lot of emotions in Damian’s voice as he spoke, betraying just how much he was wrestling with it all. Though he hadn’t heard from Captain Peck, Coleman’s representative did tell him that his old skipper not only had been fielding some questions, but had apparently been summoned for questioning.
“They’ll eventually be questioning me, I have no doubt, cause my name is all over a lot of stuff from back then. There were several of us.”
Swallowing another swig of the whiskey, Coleman sighed again and brought his gaze back to Tyra. He didn’t want to have the conversation now with her, not while she was already down. Not while he was fighting his own fights too. But it was something he had to do. The things looming over them were affecting them professionally; or, if not Tyra, then definitely Damian.
“This ain’t a great time to talk, I know,” he wildly segued into the purpose of his visit.
“But if we get through the next couple of weeks, or whatever, I wanna be able to start fresh with you. Because right now there is a tension between us and I can’t let that keep going. You’ve been the best damn Captain I’ve ever worked for. Has it been perfect? Nah. But I don’t think there ever could be such a dynamic.”
The third sigh in as many minutes came out of him, and he took one more swallow of the courage juice to encourage him forward. Now he looked at Tyra, his face serious as his brows furrowed together.
“But what is going on between us? Have you lost trust in me? I struggled since we came back to figure out if I did something for you to feel like you can’t tell me things. Like the big thing that has us in so much hot water now. I was damn mad at the time, I ain’t gonna lie. And you can’t fault me for that, cause I’m pretty damn sure you would be too if you were in my shoes. But I get that one. I understand it to a degree. Trying to protect us all. That makes sense even if I don’t agree with it.”
Coleman took a breath but obviously wasn’t done.
“I ain’t no snitch though. You could’ve told me and I wouldn’t have gotten mad that I could get caught up in some mess later for it. Hell, we are in that mess now anyway. I have absolutely no hesitation about lying for you, especially to protect you or our crew. If it was something real damn heinous, then yeah, I might think twice about it… you know, unless it was done for the right reasons. I haven’t been in Command long, but I know that sometimes you gotta make the hard calls. Real tough decisions. Some of those might lead to people getting killed.”
Another break, and just enough time for him to take a sip of whiskey. All of it was just pouring out of him now, and even though his brain told him to shut up, he went for it anyway.
“But this thing with Ensign Eun? You couldn’t have given me a heads-up on that? I had to find out by literally bumping into her? C’mon now. I get we’ve both been busy, hella busy with some real serious stuff, but a simple message and I could have been made aware. Or, heck, we could have had a good ol’fashioned sit down chat about it and whether or not my relationship with her was serious or not.”
That was the part where a flush of heat had come to his face. There were a litany of other little things Damian could have come at Tyra with, but it was the lack of communication that hurt him the most. It felt like a lack of trust in him, and if that was the case, then there were real problems for them working together.
“I’ve been a mushroom before, under other commands, Captain Peck for one; getting fed shit and kept in the dark. I never thought I’d feel that way again, and definitely not with you, but damn Tyra it sure does feel like I’m halfway there again.”
Walking onto the Bridge, he nodded at the Officer on Watch while strolling straight toward the Ready Room doors. He wasn’t in uniform, so there was no need for anyone to really pay him any mind. Though he was wearing a dark gray unlined Artemis bomber jacket and ball cap, so most people still either acknowledged him or gave him a berth while walking. He wasn’t carrying anything either, which most people associated with him being on duty whenever he also had a PADD in hand.
No, Damian was on one singular mission for the moment. For some reason, it felt like enemy territory when it should have been anything but. That, he knew, was partly his fault. For the first couple of days back he had stewed, focusing on work instead of confronting the other problems head on. But after the last forty-eight hours, he knew that time was quickly running down to figure shit out.
Hitting the door chime, Coleman waited until he was bidden in by Tyra’s voice. The moment the door opened Damian regretted his timing. Jacket strewn on her desk, whiskey already in hand, body wearily on the couch, the entire setup felt like she’d had a rough day. Though Coleman knew there’d be no better days for the foreseeable future. Every moment would be slipstreaming towards an inevitable confrontation with some arm of Starfleet about their recent actions and, more specifically, a confession.
“Mind if I…?” he gestured forward, breaking his hesitant pause at her door.
Tyra lazily pointed to the bottle and muttered something along the lines of ‘help yourself’. Coleman had considered not imbibing, and instead trying to remain on somewhat equal footing with Tyra. Though after looking at the bottle, she’d barely broken into it, and so it didn’t much matter if he had a good sized glass.
Taking off the ball cap and tucking it under his arm, Damian strode forward and poured himself a sizable glass. With that done, he found a spot to sit across from Tyra, in one of the comfier chairs that were in the Ready Room. He didn’t quite flop into the chair, unlike how Tyra seemed to be on the couch, but he also did sit back and relax just a bit; despite the conversation that he was wanting to have. Coleman took a sip of the whiskey, and the moment it hit his tongue he closed his eyes. It was good. It was damn good. He soaked in that feeling for a moment, before looking back at Tyra, concern on his face.
“That good huh?” he asked rhetorically.
“It ain’t looking good for me either. I spent the last forty-eight in meetings with my rep. They’ve already starting digging into all of my files, and I got a notice of motion from JAG; they wanna go peeping into my duty and personal logs.”
Coleman sighed a little louder than he should have, but his frustration with the whole situation was trying to burst forth.
“I just don’t understand why Benjamin did it. I mean I do, but… damn it, he could have checked in with one of us first. Or at least you directly. Would have made all this mess a whole lot easier.”
And a whole lot of my past not dredged up.
“You should know,” he started, his eyes flittering down to the golden liquid inside the glass, “I’ve been told they’ve reopened a case from my past, a long while ago now. The things that went down on the Atlanta."
There were a lot of emotions in Damian’s voice as he spoke, betraying just how much he was wrestling with it all. Though he hadn’t heard from Captain Peck, Coleman’s representative did tell him that his old skipper not only had been fielding some questions, but had apparently been summoned for questioning.
“They’ll eventually be questioning me, I have no doubt, cause my name is all over a lot of stuff from back then. There were several of us.”
Swallowing another swig of the whiskey, Coleman sighed again and brought his gaze back to Tyra. He didn’t want to have the conversation now with her, not while she was already down. Not while he was fighting his own fights too. But it was something he had to do. The things looming over them were affecting them professionally; or, if not Tyra, then definitely Damian.
“This ain’t a great time to talk, I know,” he wildly segued into the purpose of his visit.
“But if we get through the next couple of weeks, or whatever, I wanna be able to start fresh with you. Because right now there is a tension between us and I can’t let that keep going. You’ve been the best damn Captain I’ve ever worked for. Has it been perfect? Nah. But I don’t think there ever could be such a dynamic.”
The third sigh in as many minutes came out of him, and he took one more swallow of the courage juice to encourage him forward. Now he looked at Tyra, his face serious as his brows furrowed together.
“But what is going on between us? Have you lost trust in me? I struggled since we came back to figure out if I did something for you to feel like you can’t tell me things. Like the big thing that has us in so much hot water now. I was damn mad at the time, I ain’t gonna lie. And you can’t fault me for that, cause I’m pretty damn sure you would be too if you were in my shoes. But I get that one. I understand it to a degree. Trying to protect us all. That makes sense even if I don’t agree with it.”
Coleman took a breath but obviously wasn’t done.
“I ain’t no snitch though. You could’ve told me and I wouldn’t have gotten mad that I could get caught up in some mess later for it. Hell, we are in that mess now anyway. I have absolutely no hesitation about lying for you, especially to protect you or our crew. If it was something real damn heinous, then yeah, I might think twice about it… you know, unless it was done for the right reasons. I haven’t been in Command long, but I know that sometimes you gotta make the hard calls. Real tough decisions. Some of those might lead to people getting killed.”
Another break, and just enough time for him to take a sip of whiskey. All of it was just pouring out of him now, and even though his brain told him to shut up, he went for it anyway.
“But this thing with Ensign Eun? You couldn’t have given me a heads-up on that? I had to find out by literally bumping into her? C’mon now. I get we’ve both been busy, hella busy with some real serious stuff, but a simple message and I could have been made aware. Or, heck, we could have had a good ol’fashioned sit down chat about it and whether or not my relationship with her was serious or not.”
That was the part where a flush of heat had come to his face. There were a litany of other little things Damian could have come at Tyra with, but it was the lack of communication that hurt him the most. It felt like a lack of trust in him, and if that was the case, then there were real problems for them working together.
“I’ve been a mushroom before, under other commands, Captain Peck for one; getting fed shit and kept in the dark. I never thought I’d feel that way again, and definitely not with you, but damn Tyra it sure does feel like I’m halfway there again.”