Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in The Arrival of Leah Hart

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Leah Hart (Nurse Practitioner/Counseling) in The Arrival of Leah Hart

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in The Arrival of Leah Hart
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

[O]Of course, Lt. What’s your location and I’ll be right there.[O]

[o]I’m in sickbay but can meet you outside.[o]

Rand arrived very quickly. “Alright why don’t we start on this deck. On top of Medical, the main Science labs are on this deck. To the fore is the recreation room and galley.” Rand led the way towards the front of the deck.

Rand

“The recreation room… do people gather there a lot, or it is mostly just to eat?” Trying to figure out the social structure of the ship was going to be one of her first challenges, but Leah was pretty outgoing and tended to make friends pretty easily. However, a starship was a different beast altogether.

~Leah Hart, NP

“They are actually two separate rooms. The Galley is bigger, because of the walk-in coolers and freezers and the full kitchen. People tend to gather in both quite frequently. The galley is busier during meal times, but is always open.” She paused, “The rec room is on the outer hull and the Galley on the inside. Which would you like to see first?”

Rand

Leisure versus food, that was a tough choice. Both were essential and both things she made time for daily (though leisure sometimes lost out over double shifts and complicated patients). Leah smiled. “Let’s do the rec room first.”

~Leah Hart, NP

Rand turned toward the outer hull and stepped through a wide double door. The room had various areas and was easily bigger than the size of five standard rooms. There was a small sitting area to the furthest wall with a bookshelf filled to bursting. The rest of the area had several tables and chairs with a large storage cabinet nearby that held games and art supplies and musical instruments. There were also a ping-pong table, a foosball table, and air hockey. “If there is anything you want, there is a request list on the ship’s computer where you can add things. I can’t guarantee I can get it, but I will do my best.”

Yeoman Rand

Leah gave a slow nod as she took a turn around the room. “It’s great. I can see it being a nice place for people to gather.” She turned back to Rand. “Are there crew events held in here ever? What sort of things does everyone get up to?”

~Leah Hart, NP

“Smaller ones. There are book clubs, art classes, art displays, game nights, movie nights. For larger, whole crew events, the gym is emptied and they are held there.” Rand told her.

Yeoman Rand

Her brown eyes took on a calculating appearance as Leah took another glance around the space. The reality was that she was the defacto morale officer around here now and it was important for her to figure out not only what people did already to entertain themselves, but also what gaps existed that could be filled. “Anything coming up this week?” she said as she moved back to the door, so they could presumably head to the galley next.

~Leah Hart, NP

Rand lifted her PaDD and tapped through it with her stylus to pull up the ship’s social calendar. “There is a ping-pong tournament on Wed. A horror film showing all day Saturday so all the shifts can see it. We just had crew rotation and a visiting scientist come on board, so there is a welcome social in the Galley on Friday. And the book club meets every Monday.”

Yeoman Rand

“Nice!” she said, bobbing her head. “I mean, I was expecting a lot of adjustment when it came to my down time, but it’s nice to know there’s some socializing happening.” Leah suspected there would be no dance nights, but that was okay. She’d just have to keep it up some other way.

Rand knew a lot of people liked to socialize. It wasn’t that Rand disliked people, but she got overwhelmed a lot. She preferred her interactions small. “That’s just this week. There is always something going on, and we also have regular whole ship gatherings for holidays and such. We clear the gym and decorate. There’s music and food and dancing. Chef Gorshin always makes a special meal and dessert for people’s birthdays and anniversaries.”

She beamed but it was a softer expression. “That’s lovely.” Something about the mention of holidays made her momentarily nostalgic and maybe even a little bit sad. She was so grateful for her abuela though. She made special days like that actually something Leah wanted to participate in. Here though? It was hard to say how it would go but it did seem promising. As she often was reminded, chosen family could be more reliable and uplifting than those with whom you shared DNA.

As they stepped out of the rec room and headed over to the galley, Leah had a thought come to mind. “Um, so I’m used to an apartment setting, and my quarters will be similar, but are there restrictions on decorations?”

~Leah Hart, NP

“No,” Rand shook her head. “Well as long as it doesn’t damage the structural integrity there are no restrictions. But you are responsible for taking care of it, and setting it back to standard before you transfer out.” They entered the Galley, and it was only occupied by a few people. Directly across from the door was a long counter that operated like a buffet table. Behind it was a huge kitchen and an older male officer was puttering around, chopping, mixing, kneading, and making a mess. He was alternately humming and whistling to himself.

Hart’s mind was pulled away from decorating ideas to another space she’d likely spend quite a bit of time in.

Rand wove her way through the tables to the counter. “Gorshin.” The man paused and turned and smiled hugely. “Rand! Is it lunch already? It’s not ready.” Rand smiled, flushed a little, and shook her head. “No, it’s not. We have a new officer. Lt Hart, this is MCPO Gorshin. He’s our chef and a the ship’s best kept secret.”

“The good ones always are,” Leah said with a grin.

The man grinned, “And don’t forget it either.” He wiped his hands on a towel hanging from the tie of apron and held out a hand. “Pleasure Lt. Hart. Tell me, what’s your favorite food?”

Chef Gorshin

Leah have an enthusiastic shake in return and smiled. “Oh, well that’s a hard one. It’s a toss up between a good paella and my abuela’s alfajores. It’s a good thing I’m used to eating all sorts of foods though. I’m pretty adventurous.”

~Leah Hart, NP