Lunch Break

Posted on Mon Sep 3rd, 2018 @ 9:07am by Lieutenant Marcus Rutilius
Edited on on Mon Sep 3rd, 2018 @ 9:45am

Mission: Weathering the Storm
Location: Aft Compartment, Aruwimi
Timeline: Two Weeks Before the Storm

ON: [[Aft Compartment, Aruwimi, Two Weeks Before the Storm]]

The runabout Aruwimi sped across open space on its way back from a three-week field excursion to observe a series of religious festivals on the planet Shokaal. Inside the aft compartment, Marcus was stretched out on his bunk. It would be another day or two at least before they reached the station and he saw no reason to let that time go to waste.

A large data PADD containing several weeks’ worth of personal messages rested across his lap. Marcus had been meaning to go through them for a while. With everything that had been going on aboard the station and the preparation for this excursion, however, things had gotten busy.

He had just opened another letter when the compartment door slid open.

Nikora, the team’s bio anthropologist, came bounding into the room. The energy she exuded told him she was in one of her characteristically cheery moods. Her face brightened into a smile when she caught sight of him in the bunk.

“Hey, Rooty!”

“Don’t call me that.”

In truth, she was probably one of the few people who could get away with calling him that. Most people who tried to call him “Rooty” did so in a way that made him feel silly. The fact that he knew she was just pulling his leg and that she didn’t do it all that often made him more willing to let it slide. Marcus may not have liked the name, but he wasn’t going to push her on it.

He watched as she crossed over to the workstation and leaned in to check something on the monitor. When she still hadn’t said anything after a moment or two, Marcus decided to try a different approach.

“What can I do for you, Niki,” he asked, putting just enough emphasis on the name to make it noticeable.

It worked. Nikora turned her head and gave him an exaggerated look of disapproval over her shoulder. She even stuck her tongue out for good measure, which made her seem like a mischievous child. There was a twinkle in her eyes, though, that told him she wasn’t really upset, and it only added to her impish appearance in that moment.

Her eyes slid to the PADD across his lap. “Working on your report already?”

Touché, Marcus thought to himself. He raised the PADD so that the display surface was pressed against his stomach, but otherwise made no move to hide it. “Just trying to catch up on a few things before we get back,” he replied, “You?”

Nikora shook her head.

“You think maybe you could put whatever it is aside for a few minutes and help me with lunch,” she asked him as she turned away from the workstation.

Marcus gave a sigh. He shifted himself so that his legs were dangling over the edge of the bunk, then pushed himself off and dropped down to the deck. Before walking away, he slid the PADD under his pillow, hoping that it might remind him to come back to it later.

He joined Nikora at the open storage unit where she was already getting out the supplies for lunch. Taking the place settings from her, he started arranging them around the table. One couldn’t always count on having the time or the company to be able to sit down regularly for meals back on the station which. Something as simple as everyone getting together and sharing the same meal made these excursions that much more enjoyable for him.

“What are we having today?”

Nikora dug around the storage unit. “We’ve got nutritional supplement four-seven-four,” she called out over her shoulder, “or ration pack two-eight-three…” She paused, head and arms inside the unit, as if waiting for Marcus to choose one.

“I don’t believe for one second that you would choose either of those,” Marcus told her from where he stood at the far end of the table, “not unless your life depended on it…and I doubt, even then, that you would.”

There was a beat of silence. Slowly, Nikora extracted herself from the storage unit and turned to face him. She was doing her best to keep a straight face, though from the way her mouth kept twitching, it didn’t look like she was having much success. Then again, Marcus wasn’t doing much better.

“I suppose we could just use the replicator,” she said, sounding playfully disappointed.

“Good idea.”

OFF

Ensign Marcus Rutilius
Anthropologist
Starbase 332

Ensign Nikora
Anthropologist
Starbase 332