Working with Nothing

Posted on Wed Mar 30th, 2016 @ 10:34pm by Lieutenant JG Danetria Andrakos-Roarke & Lieutenant Commander Le Austin

Mission: Brave New World
Location: Station Central Hub

With all of the repairs underway, Austin set about trying to find one of the few faces he hadn't yet had the pleasure to meet. Dana Andrakos had arrived just after the end of the attacks and wasted no time with a quick check in with the officer on duty before getting to work on much-needed repairs. Austin appreciated that.

So much that he'd made it his goal to meet her, face to face.

Finding a pair of boots hanging out of the wall in the station's central hub, he gave them a little kick, "Lieutenant Andrakos, I presume?" He asked.

Those little boots kicked right back. "Watch it I've got a plasma torch going! I could've just cut straight through this T brace and landed a whole mess of wires down on my head!" There was the distinct snap of a torch shunting shut then a wriggle of the boots and an inch backwards that suggested that she was making her way out.

Austin was rubbing his shin from where the woman's boot had made good contact, "I didn't kick 'em that hard," He said, peppering the end of the sentence with a grumble of Bajoran curses.

"Well I do. I don't like being startled-" Dana said as she turned around and looked up, the expression on her face transitioning from a surly grouse to moderately mollified when she took in the rank. "..oh bug.. ahh.. sorry.."

"You suck at this whole meeting your department head thing, you know that?" Austin replied, standing back up straight. His tone was grumpy, but there was a hint of twinkle in his eye and one could be forgiven for believing there was the hint of a smile on his face.

"If by department head you mean most people in general? Then yeah.." the tiny woman said as she secured the torch on her belt then crossed both arms over her chest. "Lucky you that I spend most of my time in the tubes and wedged between deck sections. I'm Dana," she said offering out a delicate hand streaked liberally with bits of soot. "You're the boss?"

"Yep, Le Austin. Austin is the given name," He said with a grin as he shook the tiny engineer's hand, "Since a lot of people still don't know that little tidbit," He explained with a grin. "You got in and got to work so fast, I didn't get a chance to meet you, so I figured I'd track you down."

"Oh, I don't do real well keeping still either. There was so much to do on the docket board, I figured that I might as well start picking up tickets." As long as her flight had been, she was itching for busy work and so far the station had plenty to keep her going. "I didn't grab out of order or something, did I? I'm not used to being tracked down. Not with combadges, I mean. I don't think I saw the Tipting's CEO even once the entire time I was there." As she spoke, she turned back to the tube and started gathering tools together out of the mouth to put back into her toolbox.

"Really?" Austin said, making a face. He shook off the notion and continued, "Well, that's not how I do things. I know I can't know everyone in my department personally, but I like to meet as many as I can as often as I can," He explained. "Especially when they're workaholics like me," He added with a grin, kneeling down to help her gather tools. "This was the leaking plasma manifold, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. You had some warping of the T support because of it. They're both cinched up and reinforced now." Taking a small flashlight on her belt, she used it to point back in the dim tube towards a gleaming bit of metal cradling a nest of wires up along the crawlspace's top. "I'll need to come back later and give it a bit more love. There's some mild corrosion that can still be smoothed out instead of replacing, but that can be done later."

"Yeah, I see it," Austin said, peering up at where her flashlight was pointed. "That'll hold fine for a good while, though," He said, looking up at her fix. "You've learned to work with nothing, haven't you," Austin replied with a knowing grin.

"You could say that.." Dana answered a bit hesitantly. "Some of the ships I've served on were in pretty bad shape. Beyond that, I tend to tinker a bit. What brought you to that conclusion? That I reshaped the T with duramesh instead of a full replacement or that I lug my own toolkit?" The box looked like it had had better years decades ago. Beat up, ugly, paint peeled and worn, but it obviously lovingly repaired again and again and again.

"Hey, as long as it keeps us in the air, I'm happy with it," Austin replied grinning.

Dana smiled, too, awkwardly, completely unsure of where to go with the conversation from there. Was that a 'okay, you got your compliment now scram' smile? Or a 'you should know what to say next and you don't' kind of grin? "Good. I try to use the existing structure where I can so long as it isn't in a high stress area. Too many patches and warping metals make for impaired integrity. Don't want any sudden handshakes with vacuum or load bearing struts collapsing. That's not good on the resume.."

Austin chuckled, "Nah, people frown on those events," he said. "So tell me about yourself, Dana," He asked, starting in on his usual line of questions for new crew.

"Why?" With the last tool tucked away, Dana popped the clasp on her tool kit shut and tried not to look at Le as oddly as she felt like she was. "What kind of information are you looking for?"

Austin regarded the girl with a bemused look for a moment, "Small talk isn't your strong point, is it," He said with a smirk. "I'm asking who you are, where you came from. Straight from the horses mouth, not from some stuffy old report."

Andrakos's mouth screwed up and her nose scrunched up for a moment. She sighed when by a thirty count the man kept staring at her and hadn't walked away. "I'm from Valheris. It's sort of a dead world now. Lost some family in the war there. Finally made it to Earth some six years later. Settled in Canada. Snow is awful. Married once. Lost my kid. Hate my ex. Hate shoes. I don't keep things that you can't carry and run with. Love pianos, but you can't carry one. Is that enough?"

Austin took a moment to contemplate that question, seeming to tick unnamed things off on his fingers, before slowly starting to shake his head, "No... nope. I need one more thing. Starfleet regulations and all," He said, that twinkle and phantom smile returning.

The tiny woman's mouth twitched in a momentary frown. Small talk was right up there with being tortured in her book. "I throw a sick curve ball.."

"Really? We're so hitting the holodecks for some baseball later," He said, lighting up at that prospect. "Do you rock climb at all?"

At that the woman finally seemed to perk up and she visibly relaxed. That was safe ground. "I haven't before if that's what you're asking. Trees, yes. Mostly I run or hike, play ball, pool, swim. Not basketball, though. People trip on me. I run daily just after third shift starts. It's a good wrap up for the day. Gets your brain to slow down and synch up with all your parts for a bit."

"We'll have to jog together some time, that's my schedule too," He said, grinning. "I love swimming too. I can show you how to rock climb if you're interested. Tree climbing is fun, but there's nothing like standing on top of a cliff or mountain you just conquered and looking out at the view. It's an amazing rush," He said, smiling.

This time Dana returned the smile a bit more confidently. "That could be good.. When you have time, just give me warning. I'm always elbow deep in something unless I'm warned not to be."

Austin laughed at that, "Definitely. I usually am too. I was brought up during the Bajoran resistance. You learn to always be busy and keeping on top of things when there's an oppressive government trying to wipe out your species," He said with a wry grin.

Dana's lips twitched again before settling into what seemed to be her standard expression: a mix between worried and thinking deeply. She understood, she just didn't want to say so in that many words. "Yeah. Busy hands make quiet thoughts. You seem really well.. adjusted though."

Austin's eyes seemed to get distant and his smile faltered ever so slightly before he gave her a smile that spoke of wisdom far beyond his age, "The more time goes between you and the hurt... the easier it gets to fake it," He said with a wry chuckle. "The scars don't go away, but the pain does. And then new people show up to fill in the voids, and before you know it, you're pretty well normal again. It just takes time. Best medicine in the universe."

The smaller woman nodded and sighed, not saying anything for a long moment. "I'm just really impatient I guess," she said in a quiet voice.

"I didn't miss all of those bad things you mentioned," Austin said, his tone softening. "Recent?"

"Not most of it. I just haven't learned to unlearn all of it yet. I was doing really good for awhile.." Dana crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke, her body language and her features clearly spelling out her discomfort. "Amelia died three years ago. I'm doing a lot better now than I was then. I'm just still not there yet. It's like sliding backwards twenty years."

Austin nodded, "I can't imagine... you don't seem like the talking type, but... I'm around to listen. Not as your Chief, mind you... as a friend. I know what loss feels like. I know what it's like to watch family day in front of you... I... I know," He told her, earnestly. "If you just want to beat the hell out of someone in a boxing ring, I'm up for that too," He said, laughing a bit. "I make a good punching bag, I've been told."

"No, I don't- I don't hit people without merit. That's really not me. I don't talk about it, you're right, but do work on it in my own way. A lot of it is busy work, some is just for me. I do- would- appreciate a distraction sometime though. Running or baseball or any of that. I'm trying not to just shut in.." She just wasn't so sure about letting anyone in, which was the other half of stepping out and allowing herself that vulnerability again.

"Consider it done - with fair notice," Austin replied, smiling broadly at her, his chipper demeanor seeming to return a bit. "Meet me tonight at Turney's on the Promenade level and we'll go for a jog around the station. I'll show you all the good spots to eat," He said.

Food was certainly a motivator for stepping out. "What time?" Dana asked, her shoulders loosening a bit again.

"2000 hours?" Austin offered.

Dana adjusted the shoulder strap on her toolkit then nodded. "Okay. I'll see you there then I guess. I still have a bunch of hull to scan before 2000 hrs unless there's anything else?"

"Nope, not a thing," Austin said, starting to turn away. "See you tonight, Lieutenant!" He said, giving her a wave.

As awkward as it felt, Dana gave a small wave back before hurrying off towards the location of her next ticket, muttering to herself as she went.