Posted by Commander David Morris (Commanding Officer) in Simon’s Shenanigans

Posted by Civilian Sisnil Zoi (Intelligence Consultant) in Simon’s Shenanigans

Posted by Commander David Morris (Commanding Officer) in Simon’s Shenanigans
Posted by… suppressed (31) by the Post Ghost! 👻
David sighed, standing on the upper level of engineering. He’d finally beaten most of the paperwork and was just about to sit back and read when the call had come in. “Sir? There’s a…cat? Trying to get at the warp core?” David had just shaken his head and taken the turbolift down a couple decks. Sure enough, Sisnil’s cat - he hadn’t gotten the name yet - had somehow made his way into Main Engineering and was now batting at the pulsing light, surrounded by a gaggle of engineers. =/\= “Morris to Zoi. Can you come to Engineering, please?” =/\= His tone was slightly annoyed, of course, but more amused and disappointed at the same time.

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

A couple of moments passed, and then Sisnil showed up in Engineering. “I was harness training him and well, he slipped out of it and went straight for the jeffries tubes,” he explained. “Where’d he go anyway?” He asked. As he said it, Simon started to play with some very sensitive wiring.

~ Zoi

David looked right past Sisnil, directly at the kitten, and switched abruptly into his command tone. “No,” he directed, “do not play with that. No.”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

The kitten gleefully ignored David and flopped onto his back, pawing at the same thing. Sisnil turned and looked. “Simon! Simon, not those ones.” It was Sisnil’s voice that caused the kitten to look up and go Mew?

~ Zoi

David smiled and motioned Sisnil to walk with him down to the main level. “I hadn’t gotten to ask you about the name - Simon?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

“Ever heard of Simon and Garfunkel? Weren’t they popular on Earth?” Sisnil said as he followed David. It wasn’t the real origin of the name but a deflection. “Wrote Sound of Silence, they did.” He commented. “Now Simon,” he greeted the kitten as they drew closer. “Unfortunately I have to care a little about that wire, because without it we won’t be flying very far.”

~ Zoi

David lowered to be more on-level with Simon. “Hello! I’m sure we have some spares you could play with though.” He extended one hand towards the kitten, letting him sniff at it before moving closer.

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Simon sniffed, and then playfully munched down on the end of his finger, tiny needle like teeth digging into his skin as Simon’s long tail waved playfully.

~ Zoi

David winced but stayed still, letting Simon become bored and release his finger of his own accord. He shot Sisnil a meaningful glance but otherwise stayed focused on the kitten in front of him.

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Sisnil grinned and shrugged. David could handle a little tiny kitten bite. He reached carefully into the area and picked up the kitten, who struggled and swatted at his hands, cradling the little cat in his arms. “What did we say about wandering off, Simon? We don’t do that, do we?” He said in a cutesy animal voice. He looked at David, “Biting Starfleet Captains though.... that I can get behind.”

~ Zoi

David grinned back at him. By this point, the taunts were mostly playful on Sisnil’s part, as much as he would likely deny it. “No, Simon, we don’t bite anyone unless they’re trying to hurt our family, so we?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

The kitten mewed playfully at David’s words. Sisnil shrugged, “Does in the future count?” He asked. He slipped the kitten’s little harness back over his head and tightened it down. Then he set Simon down, leashed. “There. No more slipping away.”

~ Zoi

“Well, given the future isn’t set in stone, no.” David shifted to fully pay attention to Sisnil now. “We really haven’t met as much as I intended we would - now’s as good a time. Are you integrating into the crew well enough?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Sisnil seemed uncomfortable for a split second before he changed and smiled. “Well, integrate isn’t the word I’d use…” No, between Stephens and his preference of interacting with the crew as little as possible, he more or less only spoke to Dradvia, “but it’s fine, honestly.” he said with a nonchalant shrug.

~ Zoi

He pushed himself to his feet and motioned Sisnil to follow away from the heart of engineering. “I seriously doubt that. What trouble have you been running into?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Sisnil lingered for a moment, then followed David. “What trouble do you expect me to run into?” He asked guardedly. Old Syndicate instincts - never admit to trouble.

~ Zoi

“My first guess would be interpersonal issues with some crew members, followed by self-isolation due to trust issues and loneliness. Am I right?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

“What would make you think that? Has someone said something to you about me?” Sisnil asked carefully. There were those trust issues. Not to mention a desire to hide vulnerability.

~ Zoi

“Sisnil, you keep insisting on forgetting that I was trained as a counselor and again as an intel commander. I can read people pretty well. No, nobody’s brought it up, at least not to where it crossed my desk.”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

“You can estimate fairly well based on body language, facial expressions,” Sisnil said. “But you can’t know for sure. And if I wanted to I could know precisely what you know.” He shook his head, “but that’s not the discussion we’re having, is it?”

~ Zoi

“No, it’s not. So, based on your reaction, I’ll assume I was right. What do you need from me to start to remedy that?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

“Assuming there is a problem to be remedied, what exactly do you expect to do about it? These aren’t exactly ‘my quarters is on the wrong side of the ship’ type problems.” Sisnil said.

~ Zoi

“For the first issue, if there’s any particular perpetrators that are refusing to let you fit in, I or Alita can deal with it directly. As for the second, there isn’t a lot I can do without shirking my duties as a CO, but Dr. Tessan absolutely could. We could also work together to figure out how to ease your transition into the crew - is there anyone you get along with so far?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

“I’m no rat,” Sisnil said firmly. “And just Dee-Dradvia.” He shrugged, “I’m fine, David. I don’t need a shrink.”

~ Zoi

“You’re not, as far as I can tell, a danger to yourself or anyone else, so I have no reason to order you to talk to Tealor. I recommend you do, but we both know that won’t happen.” He chuckled ruefully. “And as far as not ratting anyone out, I’ll respect that, but I would be fair. As much as I believe that most in the fleet uphold our ideals, I know full well it’s not always true. That’s my job, to address it when people fall short.” He paused, then smiled again, evidently content to let that rest. “Dradvia? She’s a…” he paused, scanning through his mental list of personnel. In a less guarded moment, Sisnil caught the thought process - David had a habit of making sure he knew at least the names of everyone under his command, and had evidently been fastidious about it since news of an upcoming mission where they might lose people. “Ensign, Medical, right?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Through David’s thought process, Sisnil learned a few names. Not that he needed that, he already had given himself access to the personnel logs and files. But it could come in handy. “That’s right.” He confirmed. “The Risan, about my height. She was at that welcome party. In fact, she’s the only reason I went. She asked me to.”

~ Zoi
“I haven’t gotten to meet her yet, but I’m glad you at least have someone else to talk to, especially one who’s also a doctor.” David walked through the door to exit Engineering, into the narrow hallway leading to the turbolift.

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Coming around the curve of the corridor was Stephens. He was built more like a bouncer or old time mechanic than a fleet engineer. 6 foot, broad, muscular, and recently with a permanent scowl rather than his charming smile that all ladies loved. Well all but one and it was irritating him.

He saw the major obstacle to fixing that in the corridor with a cat. The man intimidated him, but he was in a more foul mood than usual. “What are you doing, Zoi?” he sneered. “You don’t belong in engineering and certainly not with that animal. What? Was one pet,” he actually spit, referring to Dradvia, “not enough for you?” He stalked toward Zoi, unaware of his companion for the moment.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

“Ah, my favourite… engineer, apparently,” Sisnil responded dryly. “Simon is better behaved than you are, so watch your tongue. If we weren’t here… in the presence that we are, calling Dradvia that would have… consequences.”

~ Zoi

Stephens scoffed. Pure bravado and self inflated bruised ego. “Really? Funny how your mind went directly to her.” He bit back the retort as someone else moved.

Said current company stepped lightly around the corner, his body language instantly cooler (though still friendly, given he was an Intel CO). “Ensign Stephens. Please don’t refer to anyone on this crew in that fashion, and Mr. Zoi is here by my direct request. Simon here was pretending he was an engineer himself.” David laughed, though his eyes still held the much icier look than most people ever got from him.

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Stephens eyes widened and he came to attention. The respect was genuine. This was his Captain and Cmdr Morris knew his name. “My apologies, Sir.” This could be good news. The captain looked unimpressed, but if he did this right. “I was unaware you were already handling his unauthorized access. I am honestly just glad to see he’s not stalking our medical personnel.” His eyes darted past them, or was Zoi following Dradvia? No, she was in sickbay, he’d seen her there.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer

David sighed internally. No ratting out indeed, Sisnil? Externally, he maintained the slighty detached, cool mask. “Stalking, ensign? Has there been an incident I didn’t hear about?”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

“No, David, there hasn’t. Stephens, here, is going to stay away.” With that, he shot Stephens an intimidating glare. “As for unauthorised access, well, you called me here yourself, didn’t you, Captain?“

~ Zoi

“Sisnil, he is assigned to work here,” David countered. “And yes, I did request that you come down here directly.”

Commander David Morris
Commanding Officer

Stephens took a slight step back. Then decided he didn’t need to be intimidated. Yet he still was. “Yes, Sir there has,” Stephens said pointedly looking at Morris. “I’m not surprised you haven’t heard, Sir. Drad…via, Ensign Dradvia, that is, she’s too afraid to say anything. Mr. Zoi,” he thrust his chin towards Sisnil, “never leaves her alone. He doesn’t allow her to socialize with others, he ‘escorts’ her everywhere, he isolates her away from everyone in the lounge, and he is aggressive towards anyone that tries to speak with her. I’ve tried to make her understand we can help her, but she won’t even talk when he’s around.” That wasn’t quite true. Dradvia had told him to leave her aline, but he knew that was only because that was what Zoi told her to do.

Ens. Dradvia, Medical Officer