09-12-2023, 01:37 AM
== Lieutenant Cera Morgan, Quartermaster ==
As Devereaux had excused herself for bridge duty, Cera had smiled and nodded her understanding. Her dark eyes had followed the redhead out of the room for a moment before considering the room as a whole. She was just making an educated guess on where the stellar cartography lab was located when the source of her quest appeared out of one of the department's labyrinth of halls.
Judith Tucker nodded at Cera and the blonde couldn't help but smile in greeting. "Hi Commander. It's great to see you in the labs. Did you have a relaxing shore leave..."
It was the pause that made Cera internally panic for a moment. Was it possible that her tumultuous shore leave had already became common knowledge? No, she had been incredibly careful to monitor the usual traffic to ensure that it hadn't become public knowledge; oh yes, there had been some comments about Ben's abrupt departure from DS9 as well as her own limited visibility during shore leave but nothing that she hadn't been able to bury under a couple of carefully curated tid bits of information.
"...or is this a business? We can chat about shore leave later if it is."
If there was one thing about Tucker that Cera had learned over the years , it was that she was very much to be taken at face value. She was honest, sweet and earnest, not at all one to play little games. That gave Cera some peace that she was still in control of the narrative, that everything would become public at her pace, which might be sooner rather than later if Ben continued to take the coward's way out.
"My shore leave didn't go as planned but I made the most of it, all the same. There's nothing a little wine can't fix, after all," she answered with a warm smile. "How was yours? How is your son doing? I'm sure he's gotten so big that I wouldn't even recognize him anymore!"
After they exchanged pleasantries for a few more moments, Cera focused on the reason for her trip, the reason other than her need for an escape that was in no way related to engineering. "I actually was stopping by to make sure that you had all of the supplies needed for your research. I usually get a combined supply request from the CSO but since the office is currently empty, I just wanted to make sure that I had received all of the requests and had fulfilled them adequately."
No sooner than she had let forth her officially reasoning for traveling down to the less traveled area of the ship, for her at least, than her PADD released a loud chime, indicating an urgent request. She smiled apologetically as she dug the PADD from its pocket, her brow furrowing as she read the message with its request to report to the Philadelphia for briefing. Firstly, she had no idea why the briefing was being held on that tiny little ship with its inadequate facilities; were they going to have to share chairs or just sit on each other's lap? Secondly, no doubt Ben would have gotten a similar summons and in such close quarters, there was no way to avoid him. Ironic considering he had been the one avoiding her but she frankly didn't want such a public encounter with him after everything.
And the best part was it was entirely his fault. If he had just answered her messages, any of them, they could have made their peace privately but no, he had partied with his little friends instead of begin even slightly responsible. His terrible timing with his dinner request was just icing on the cake.
For a split second, her frustration was clearly visible on her face before it was carefully hidden once more. She shot Tucker a flawless smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm so sorry. The captain needs my attention elsewhere but please, check over everything and let me know personally if there is anything missing," she apologized, even as she stuffed her PADD back in her pocket and begun moving with a purpose out of science.
== Tag! ==
>> Transporter Room >>
As Devereaux had excused herself for bridge duty, Cera had smiled and nodded her understanding. Her dark eyes had followed the redhead out of the room for a moment before considering the room as a whole. She was just making an educated guess on where the stellar cartography lab was located when the source of her quest appeared out of one of the department's labyrinth of halls.
Judith Tucker nodded at Cera and the blonde couldn't help but smile in greeting. "Hi Commander. It's great to see you in the labs. Did you have a relaxing shore leave..."
It was the pause that made Cera internally panic for a moment. Was it possible that her tumultuous shore leave had already became common knowledge? No, she had been incredibly careful to monitor the usual traffic to ensure that it hadn't become public knowledge; oh yes, there had been some comments about Ben's abrupt departure from DS9 as well as her own limited visibility during shore leave but nothing that she hadn't been able to bury under a couple of carefully curated tid bits of information.
"...or is this a business? We can chat about shore leave later if it is."
If there was one thing about Tucker that Cera had learned over the years , it was that she was very much to be taken at face value. She was honest, sweet and earnest, not at all one to play little games. That gave Cera some peace that she was still in control of the narrative, that everything would become public at her pace, which might be sooner rather than later if Ben continued to take the coward's way out.
"My shore leave didn't go as planned but I made the most of it, all the same. There's nothing a little wine can't fix, after all," she answered with a warm smile. "How was yours? How is your son doing? I'm sure he's gotten so big that I wouldn't even recognize him anymore!"
After they exchanged pleasantries for a few more moments, Cera focused on the reason for her trip, the reason other than her need for an escape that was in no way related to engineering. "I actually was stopping by to make sure that you had all of the supplies needed for your research. I usually get a combined supply request from the CSO but since the office is currently empty, I just wanted to make sure that I had received all of the requests and had fulfilled them adequately."
No sooner than she had let forth her officially reasoning for traveling down to the less traveled area of the ship, for her at least, than her PADD released a loud chime, indicating an urgent request. She smiled apologetically as she dug the PADD from its pocket, her brow furrowing as she read the message with its request to report to the Philadelphia for briefing. Firstly, she had no idea why the briefing was being held on that tiny little ship with its inadequate facilities; were they going to have to share chairs or just sit on each other's lap? Secondly, no doubt Ben would have gotten a similar summons and in such close quarters, there was no way to avoid him. Ironic considering he had been the one avoiding her but she frankly didn't want such a public encounter with him after everything.
And the best part was it was entirely his fault. If he had just answered her messages, any of them, they could have made their peace privately but no, he had partied with his little friends instead of begin even slightly responsible. His terrible timing with his dinner request was just icing on the cake.
For a split second, her frustration was clearly visible on her face before it was carefully hidden once more. She shot Tucker a flawless smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm so sorry. The captain needs my attention elsewhere but please, check over everything and let me know personally if there is anything missing," she apologized, even as she stuffed her PADD back in her pocket and begun moving with a purpose out of science.
== Tag! ==
>> Transporter Room >>