In search of answers

Posted on Wed Jun 29th, 2022 @ 5:11pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Tia Smithy(Kosugi) & Captain Callisi Verra

Mission: The Goddess
Location: Flight Deck Observation
2713 words - 5.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Tia really needed to talk to somebody, and she had the idea of someone she might be able to talk to. Someone whom she had, well, sort of a connection with, well maybe not that much of a connection but Captain Verra was there to help with Tia's former ship. That would qualify right? Besides Verra could possibly know more about the Helmsman, Kosugi.

She tapped her combadge and sent out a query.

"Captain Verra, um can you spare a moment of your time? I'd like to um have a conversation, is there a place we can talk?"

The commbadge chirped from under the chassis of one of the fighter hulls in the fighter bay. The hull with the big pair of feet sticking out from underneath it. Callisi was trying to patch together what they had into something resembling a viable craft, nevermind a full fighter, when the chirp snapped her out of the moment. "This is Verra." she started, slowly backing out from under the fighter. "I could use a distraction from the task at hand. We can talk anywhere, set the time and place and I'll meet you there." the rabbitess offered. Letting Tia set the time and place would let her put herself someplace she felt comfortable, relaxed, and possible in control. She sounded a little unsure over the badge comm, so this might help put her at ease.

"Well a cup of coffee and an out of the way place. How about the small observational deck where the fighters are at?" Tia not realizing that Callisi was already near that area. "I'm headed there already." Tia felt that it was a good place as any, and as far as she knew not many people hung out there.

"I'll meet you there. Coffee and talk it is." the rabbitess confirmed, before pulling herself completely out from under the fighter and making her way up to the observation deck. She'd have the coffee prepped and ready by the time Tia got there, not to mention having scrubbed off some of the results of getting one's hands dirty. She wanted to be presentable to her guest afterall.

To that end, a small plate of cookies would join the coffee.

Tia arrived, pausing to take a look at the scene below, then turned to greet Captain Verra. "Er hi, thank you for being willing to meet with me." walking over to where there were some seats and near the rabbitess, coffee and, "Oh cookies those look really good." giving a shy smile.

Callisi waved a hand towards them, to further offer them to Tia, "Help yourself. And please, it's just Callisi here. My parents took their time picking out the name." she said with a soft smile. "And hello. I don't think we've had the chance to meet outside of mass gatherings. It'll be good to meet more people." her expression drooped slightly, "You're going to ask. Yes, I lost the eye. Yes, it's been replaced."

"Well, actually I wasn't going to ask about your eye, and you and I met on the U.S.S. T'sul, when my former ship was drifting in space. But yes we've not really met on a one ot one basis." She picked up one of the cookies and took a bite, they were really good. "These are good." she said with a shy smile, then poured herself some coffee. She sat there for a moment, just enjoying the cookie and also the coffee. "Of all of the people, except for Timia, and...well Evalyn, who ended up leaving. I felt you to be the most comfortable for me to talk with."

Callisi snagged a cookie for herself, topping off her coffee, "Apologies. I find that sooner or later, everyone asks. I figured get it out of the way now, so that you can speak more freely about whatever it was you wanted to speak about." the rabbitess clarified, then took a nibble. "Freshly replicated. Just like mother used to make." she said in humor, before she gave a nod. "I'm grateful you find comfort here. I'll do my best not to ruin that. How can I help? Was there something particular on your mind, or just wanting to chat?"

"A koku for your thoughts." she said with a smirk.

"Well, uh.. actually I've not talked with too many people on the ship yet, but perhaps you can help. You have been on this ship for a little bit, definitely longer than I have. There is one person in particular I am trying to figure something out. And it is Lieutenant Kosugi. What do you make of him? Is he a nice guy or is he a creep? " Tia deciding just to blurt that part out.

Callisi nearly gagged on her coffee. It took a moment for her to recover but, to her credit, she didn't wind up making Tia wear a coffee themed outfit.

"Apologies. Ts'usugi aren't.... we don't usually encounter such directness." she covered, but continued once she fully regained her composure. Which was difficult considering the subject matter. Her ears drooped ever so slightly, her shoulders relaxed just a little bit. Talking about him was easy.

"He's a very nice guy." she started. "He's interesting, and interested. He compliments honestly, and speaks his heart and mind. He enjoys the company of whoever he's with, regardless of whether its at a party or just sitting around watching sports from a planet he's never seen." she watched her coffee swirl for a few moments.

"We, had a moment after a party. It was a good moment, and we both agreed that we should have more moments. Until life and duty made things interesting, so we have to deal with this business of a trinity cult before we can sort ourselves out." a pause, "I'm sorry if this isn't quite the answer you wanted. You deserve honesty. He and I are interested, but we've not gotten past the first outing. Even that was with the aid of a revealing dress and perhaps a little alcohol."

"I wore the dress." was she flummoxed?

Tia blinked, she wasn't expecting that, "Well.. you don't find him creepy. Okay then, and he is a nice guy. I feel differently about him though. He irritates me, I don't know why. He seems so cocky, so arrogant, a bit of a judgemental person. At least he seemed like that to me, when on the cargo ship. With those, sacrifices of the Unholy Trinity." Tia grabbed another cookie and bit into it.

"Who someone is in the thick of it and who they are when they aren't in danger can be two completely separate people." Callisi mentioned, "I won't lie, I've seen my fair share of cockiness and arrogance from many a people in uniforms like this." she patted her own uniform. Standard starfleet issue. "To me, his arrogance strikes me as wanting to let people know that he knows what he's doing. He wants people to know that in a crisis, he can be depended on. I ..." she took a breath, "I find that comforting, somewhat."

"I also grew up in a society with an enforced draft of three years of service in the Imperial Navy, so I might have a different viewpoint on authority than others." she put that little fact on the table. "Or maybe the shock of seeing the state of things on that cargo ship jarred him more than he wanted to show." she smirked, "You know how men are about showing any weakness." she shook her head. "But, that's just my perspective."

Tia tilted her head to regard Calissi, "I can see your point. So what you are saying is give him a chance? To not be so offish with him? I will confess I've not been too nice to him. I had an encounter and all he did was ask if I was okay, and I snapped at him." her shoulders drooped slightly, "I guess I have not been too fair to him but, he just has that feel to him, or he is just reminding me too much of some of the officers on the T'sul. They weren't very nice." her head lowered as she regarded her coffee for a moment or two.

The rabbitess listened, and then gave a nod, "It seems to me like you and I have a bit in common. Maybe more then we think. You acted defensively since you had trained yourself to expect to have to defend yourself, and I... well I assumed that you'd ask about my injury since everyone does." she shook her head, "For that assumption, I apologize. It may take some time for you to realize that not everything is an attack of a sort. In the end, how you respond and how you interact with him and anyone else really is your call. Though I'd at least say to be professional. Not that there's a doubt about that. Friendship, however, is entirely your call." she took a sip of her coffee, holding it for a moment to just enjoy the warmth.

"That's the best advise a broken Daughter of Ts'usu can really offer." despite the term, Callisi offered a soft smile.

"I will take what you said to heart." Tia responded, then took another bite of her cookie. "I will admit that, I am still looking over my shoulder expecting to see someone after me." she mumbled through her cookie. She drank part of her coffee to wash down the cookie. "You see, I ran away from the T'sul. I stowed away went into hiding. The captain knows of this." her voice went rather quiet, then a bitter smile appeared. "I saw what those Unholy zealots did to my friends in Engineering.." she shook her head to chase away the memories. "Okay I best not speak of that, I will save that for the counselor."

"You did the right thing." she offered, first and foremost. "Sometimes the most important thing, the bravest thing, someone can do is make sure there's someone alive to explain what happened. And to remember." she offered, sipping her coffee. "Don't think less of yourself for surviving." she was firm about that.

"And, as someone who's served her Three, I can sympathize with trauma. If the counselor can't help and you just need someone to talk to, that door there...." she motioned. "Always open. Not just because the lock sticks." she said in jest. "Three years in war. I did troop drops behind enemy lines, real grey ops stuff. Always under fire, always risking everything. There and back, that was my charge. Flying low under their sensor sweeps, always something. Always." she paused, another nibble to finish off her cookie before moving to replace it. "I've seen things. Back when I had both eyes." she shook her head gently, then looked up at Tia. "I mean it. You need someone, someone who's been there... find me."

Tia nodded, "I will make certain to remember that." she drank the last of her mug of coffee, "I just felt, well you know. I just don't want to keep hashing it over and over. I don't think it will serve any purpose. I hope to be able to put it to rest once we find and stop these barbarians. No more innocents being used as sacrifices. Just the way they... took the blood." she shuddered.

"If it helps you cope, by all means, hash again. Go over every detail, just make sure that everytime you tell it, you feel a little better at the end." Callisi reassured her guest. "When we finish our Three, there's always someone in the reintegration office that's there to make sure, mentally, we're ready to return to the civilian sector. My counselor always told me that same advice. Bottling up hurt only helps the bottle."

"And I'm trying very hard not to think on how they mutilated the bodies." she offered, this time with a smirk. "Unsuccessfully, I might add. I wasn't planning on getting any sleep this week anyway so..." she finished her coffee, and then reached for the pot, "Refill? By protocol and tradition, since I can see the bottom of your mug I have to fill it." she started, "But, we're a long way from home and most people were raised to finish their drink. Care for more?"

"Yes please, and also have you encountered the Unholy Trinity before? I had ended up telling Captain Hawkins of what I had witnessed, it gives me nightmares, and the fact of barely escaping the fate of engineering being blown up." she shuddered at that memory.

Callisi poured the coffee, a bit of circumstance and pomp behind the motions. "I've never encountered them, no. I've encountered the horrors of war, seen IED's and such. Never anything like what they did to those bodies." Callisi remarked as she took care of her own mug afterwards. "And I'm very experienced with 'barely escaping'."

Tia gave a solemn nod, before she picked up her filled cup and held it in both hands to feel the warmth. "Nothing a person can even describe unless someone else has experienced that sort of scenario. I had a possible boyfriend on that ship but I don't know if he is alive anymore. There was just some things that were off, and he helped me escape from that ship, to the Arcadia. I hope he isn't dead but I've got that funny feeling that he might be. Just cause he helped me escape." her voice went low and still. She grabbed another cookie and took a bite, then Tia remarked, "At this moment though I think I will concentrate on something, maybe getting myself to fit in with this crew. I am just glad that you are here, it helps, as you and the others gave me courage to run."

Callisi gave a nod, slowly nursing her coffee. With her background one would think tea would be what she lived and died by, but her time as a troop taxi turned her to the beans. "Social functions aren't my specialty. Ask the Dalacari about that." she advised with a nod. "They live and die by social trends. Though, any gathering you provide I'll attend, so you aren't alone." a promise, or at least an assurance. "And as far as me being here, I plan to be here for the long haul, so if you need me just find me. The more dire the need, the more I'll prioritize the call."

Tia nodded, finishing the last bite of her cookie. "I promise not to be a burden to you though. Something I truly wish not to do. However, if you need an extra pair of hands to work on the fighters, I'm game for that." a shy smile appearing, Tia feeling a bit more light hearted. Having coffee and cookies with the rabbitess was making her feel much better.

"I accept your oath." Callisi said with a soft smirk, "And I'll certainly accept your help." there seemed to be a bit of circumstance to that response. Protocol was her people's bread and butter... or whatever they had that was the parallel. "On a more personal note, I will not allow you to be a burden. So if you need me, simply call. Though bear in mind, the hour of the call may affect the tone of my answer." she gave a soft smile.

Tia laughed, "I will certainly keep that in mind." finishing up her coffee. "Thank you for talking with me, its eased my mind considerably. I should get going though, I've got to get back to my duties, well at least prepare for what else is needed tomorrow, I'd be in trouble if i didn't get some sleep."

As Tia stood, so did Callisi, "The least I can do is be a good hostess and see you out. If you need anything just ask, you'll find no locked doors here." another bit of ceremony as Callisi led her guest to the door. "I'll vouch for you if anyone gives you trouble. Guests are protected where I'm from."

"Have a good night."

Tia gave a nod, "Thank you once again." and disappeared from view.