Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in recurring side-sim: Sausage and Scuttlebutt

Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in recurring side-sim: Sausage and Scuttlebutt

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in recurring side-sim: Sausage and Scuttlebutt
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻
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OOC: August 1st, 2020 Update

IC: Casela appeared on the CIC and rang the chime. 2 hours before shift, AGAIN! She had two coffees in hand, both black and strong. It was time for breakfast with Zachariah. And if Casela was honest, despite having to get up early, she enjoyed it. Zachariah was a good companion for early morning contemplation. She nodded to the Gamma shift crew while she waited for him to answer.

Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“Come,” came the call from inside the room.

Once inside, Synthi-er would find Cobb sitting at his desk, with nothing before him save for one small glass of water and an expression of near-desperation on his face.

“Ah, Cas,” he exhaled as he noticed the coffees, “my Yeoman tells me she’s bringing us something special for breakfast. I just hope she knows her way around a frying pan!”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Casela smiled. What was it with the command staff calling her ‘Cas?’ She took a seat across from Zachariah, as was her habit. She passed one coffee to him and kept the other for herself. “These early mornings are starting to get to me. Strong black coffee I heard is always the answer.” She drank while it was still hot. “Some how I have a feeling, that whatever it is, will be delicious, and even if it is not, we will be polite and eat it anyway. Then we’ll wash it down with more VERY hot VERY black coffee.” She smiled at the idea. “I’m going to need several more cups today.”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“Polite. Aye,” Cobb murmured, as if trying the word against his tongue for the very first time. With no food to occupy his attention, or his hands, he found himself drumming a rhythmic pattern against the desktop. Morse code, perhaps, for feed me.

“Yes, Zachariah, polite. She’s making you a fresh cooked breakfast instead of replicator rations. Enjoy the privilege of being the CO,” Cas told him shaking her head. “And I will vicariously enjoy it through you.”

“So,” he made idle conversation in an attempt to distract from his hunger, “I hear our latest recruit, Mr Bog, has been causing a few waves down in engineering. I had the pleasure of escorting him to his quarters myself. Interesting lad,” he chuckled.

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Casela nodded, “Yes he is. I like him, thought he carries more frustration than the average Tellerite. I sent a preliminary report to the Cmdr. I’m afraid it arrived a little too late. Lt. Hampton is brilliant, but set in his ways and he’s angry and frustrated as well. Tellerites often push politeness and regulations because they see them as a cover for people’s true feelings. But his record shows a mind that works at amazing speeds when under pressure. Hampton stands on rank, but also has similar feelings about others hiding how they really feel. If they can learn to work together, Hampton and Bog will rewrite the manuals for engineering on their own. We are very lucky to have both on board.”

Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“I have no argument to make against that,” Cobb nodded. “I can spot a good engineer from thirty feet and we’ve got one of the best teams I’ve ever seen.”

He picked up his coffee and sniffed at it, the bitter aroma causing his stomach to growl in protest from the lack of food. Cobb took a sip, placed the cup down on the desk, sighed, reached for the cup again and gave it another sniff. Clearly a sentence was forming that he was desperate to wash away with the hot, caffeinated liquid. And yet it refused to release the hold on his lips.

“I need a woman, Cas,” the words fired into the surrounding space and began to form a large elephant in the corner of the room…

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Casela almost…ALMOST spit out her coffee and then she was grinning like crazy. She knew Cobb knew about her and Ryder, though he’d never said anything. So she was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about her. And she liked Cobb too much to read his mind to just make sure. “Oh DO tell Zachariah. All. the. gossip. Anyone in mind?” Of course she had some one immediately in mind, and she thought it was perfect, but she wasn’t a match maker. She tried REALLY hard to hide the smile, but the corners of her lip twitched anyway. The fact that Zachariah wanted to find someone as a companion, or more, made heart soar. He was coming back to the living slowly, and you didn’t want a companion if you were still set on letting go of this life.

Of course if he DID mean her....nope she wouldn’t put that thought out there.
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS

“Well now,” Cobb reclined in his chair, those blue eyes dancing with the faintest hint of mischief, “someone pretty. Now I’m not asking for Venus herself here, you understand? But I don’t want our friend Mr Bog in a dress, either.”
He ran a hand along his beard, his mind recalling a list that clearly Zachariah had been expending significant thought on.
“And intelligent, too. Knows her intermix formulas from her quantum substitutions. But sensitive as well.”

The captain sighed and ran a hand through his hair, then looked the counselor in the eye.
“I don’t know. What kind of woman do you think would appeal to Mr Hampton, eh?”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Without thinking she says, “Crewman Jessie Polizzi. She increadibly smart, working on her doctorate, and she’ll throw him off his game and get his attention…” As realization dawns on her what Cobb had just asked Casela almost dropped her coffee. “You can NOT be serious. Nope forget what I just said. You want my opinion on Hampton?” Oh no after the other night in the lounge. NOPE she wasn’t touching it. Though....nope! She stopped that thought right there. “You do know if he finds out I helped you with…well whatever this is, he’ll be after you too. Seriously the man HATES me. I’m okay with that, better me than another member of the crew he needs to work with, but....but…” She looks around the room, confused, “You know what,” and her grin is just a bit wicked, “Ask Cmdr. Raauhl. I hear he’s very good with the ladies. Between the two of you I’m sure you can come up with something.”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS/NOT a match maker

“Aye, I hear the same about my Number One,” Cobb nodded, then with a wink added, “but I’ll trust your own opinion over mine where he is concerned.”

Casela wouldn’t look at Cobb, but a non convincing neutral tone, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

But at the mention of the engineering chief, the captain grew serious once more. “He doesn’t hate you, Cas,” he sighed, draining the final dregs of his coffee and ready to offer to the gods anything they could ask for in return for a hearty breakfast. “He is just confused. Afraid. In truth, he reminds me a lot of myself just after the war. And that scares me.”

Casela nodded, “He is that. And he’s brilliant and I have a lot of respect for him. He doesn’t believe me though. He…was in the lounge with me the other night. Hampton wants so desperately to prove he’s right about things, but when he finds out he is, he can’t…he can’t handle it. I haven’t spoken with him enough to really make any other evaluations other than that. And he does hate me. And it’s okay. He needs a focus for that anger. He hates that I am more than just a counselor, he hates that he wants to accept me, but he can’t. He hates that it doesn’t bother me, and he hates that I represent everything that he despises about Star Fleet and the Federation.” She shrugs, “Sometimes the best I can do is allow people a focus for their feelings.”

With no other sustenance on offer, Zachariah reached for his hipflask and enjoyed a small nip, before moving to offer it to his companion then, recalling her last dalliance with alcohol, retracting it to the safety of his pocket once again.

She laughs as he pulls it away. “It’s okay, I wouldn’t take it. 9 years between drinks wasn’t enough. I’m going for lifetime between this time.”

“I tried to reach out to him, Cas. I tried to befriend him. But I made a fair mess of that and no mistake.” He exhaled deeply and ran long fingers through his silver-kissed hair. “In the end I fear I did more harm than good where Hampton is concerned.”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

“Hmmmm....you need to find common ground. Ever heard of the Viking? It’s got a thunderdome. We need one! ” She grins, and it’s a little scary. “But instead of fists fights, well some people would benefit, but mental battles as well. I could stick you and Hampton in there with all kinds of engineering challenges. Battles of Wit, problem solving, let the RTF teams try to sneak up on each other. Really the possibilities are endless. We could even do it like a lottery. So random opponents. The ship could use an outlet like that, and maybe in the process earn some respect for each other.”

“But as for Hampton. Try to talk to him. If he reached out once, you have an opening, you can either be sneaky about it, which probably won’t work with him, batter it down with brute strength, or Appeal to his ‘higher calling.’ Don’t give up.”
Lt. Synthi-er, CNS