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CO's Ready Room (tag James Mason)

Posted Dec. 22, 2020, 5:52 p.m. by Lieutenant Junior Grade James Mason (Chief Engineer) (Jeremiah Bullock)

Posted by Captain Molly Holloway (Commanding Officer) in CO’s Ready Room (tag James Mason)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade James Mason (Chief Engineer) in CO’s Ready Room (tag James Mason)

Posted by Captain Molly Holloway (Commanding Officer) in CO’s Ready Room (tag James Mason)
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Molly stared at her terminal’s screen and at the words displayed on it. It was a name, and one she had been trying to ignore.

Her first meeting with Mason hadn’t started on the best of terms, and hadn’t ended on good ones either. It was true that she hadn’t presented her best behavior, but she stood by it, and by the facts that had fueled her actions. She hadn’t seen the Engineer since the event, but she hadn’t looked for him either. When she had been given Command of the Dresden, Holloway had half expected him to move on to a different vessel, but now that his name was staring back at her, she knew for sure that hadn’t been the case. She couldn’t help but wonder why, as if she was in Mason’s shoes, the first thing she would have done would be to find another posting. Molly wouldn’t blame him if he had done so.

With a sigh, Holloway finally tapped her commbage, resigned to the idea that there was no point in delaying the inevitable. =/\= Holloway to Mason. Please report to my Ready Room. =/\= Mindlessly straightening the few objects on her desk, Holloway waited for the Ensign to show up at her door.

Holloway, CO

The Ensign tensed quietly at his workstation as the Captain’s voice echoed around him, requesting his presence. The Maquis sympathizer wanted nothing to do with Starfleet zealot currently ensconced in the command chair, but he also knew quite well that putting distasteful things sometimes was what got you that much closer to your goals.

Closing out his tasks the junior officer got up, and straightened his uniform out. Hopefully this time she wouldn’t try to put him through a bulkhead, though he wasn’t counting on it. Turning to his petty officer he smiled and winked. “Off to see the boss. Call for reinforcements if I don’t emerge in 24 hours.”

~~~

Finally standing outside the Ready Room, Mason took the chance to take a long calming breath. He could do this. He definitely could do this. Taking the chance he knocked on the bulkhead frame and waited for several seconds before slipping in. “You called for me Ma’am?”

Ensign Mason, Engineering

Molly’s gaze shifted from the terminal in front of her to the Ensign at the door. “Ah, Mason, yes. Come on in.” Her tone was polite, but there was a hint of dryness behind it. “Please, take a seat.” Holloway motioned to the chair across from her on the other side of the desk.

The room itself was not intimidating, perhaps unexpectedly so, when it came to Holloway. From the door, the working desk occupied the center of the right wall, with a few of Molly’s personal belongings displayed on its surface – a blue mug with the letters UCLA printed in yellow, an old and battered copy of Jules Verne’s Journey to the center of the Earth, a round glass terrarium, and a picture of Holloway herself and Colonel Calvin Harris happily resting on the green grass of a park. On the far corner, light wooden shelves filled the wall, containing mostly old books as well as souvenirs brought from different places. A handful of small glass terrariums of different shapes filled empty spaces and some other hung from the shelves, making the corner a greener space than the remainder of the room. Across from the desk, on the left side of the room, there was a small sitting area, with a couch, an armchair, and a coffee table. Much like the desk and chairs, they were standard Starfleet issue. Above the couch, a reproduction of one of the many paintings by Claude Monet featuring waterlilies, embellished the wall.

“Care for anything from the replicator?” Molly asked nonchalantly, but her eyes followed Mason’s every movement. It was clear that she was putting on an effort to appear calm and collected, or at least just civil. Was she trying to put their previous encounter behind them? Or was it all just pretense?

Holloway, CO

The way that a person kept their office space told a story about themselves Mason had come to learn. His own space was already gaining that clutter that came from running from one problem to the next without fully tidying behind himself. The CO’s office though told a story about a woman who loved nature and plants through the terrariums, paintings and even picture. The old books let him know that she enjoyed the feel of paper, and more than that probably collected them as a hobby.

He slipped into the chair, and then took a moment to adjust himself. Regulation chairs weren’t made for those of more barrelchested frames. Still, it was time to face the music as it were.

“No thank you ma’am,” he demurred politely. “My petty officer is already trying to bribe me with coffee so I’m all hydrated.”

There was an involuntary twitch on the corner of Holloway’s lips, almost as if she had found Mason’s words funny but was trying to conceal it.

He paused and then decided to not test field for landmines, and instead try to make things civil at the very least. “Looks like you’re a fan of the outdoors and plants ma’am. Do you garden at all?”
Ensign Mason, Engineering

Alright, Molly thought. She’d take the bait. Even though it felt like they were both walking on eggshells, it was probably for the better.

“The outdoors, yes. Plants…” Holloway hesitated for a moment as she looked around at her shelves. “… they tend to die under my watch. So to answer your question, no. Gardening is something better suited to someone else.” Her eyes returned to the officer in front of her, sitting on the opposing side of the desk. “If you’re referring to the terrariums, my sister makes them and sends them way too often. They are pleasant to look at, and as you pointed out, they make the space a little more outdoorsy, if you will. Besides, many of them are self sufficient, and require little to no maintenance. The ones that don’t, well… if they end up dying I’ll just replace them with the ones my sister will inevitably send next week.” There was a smile, but it didn’t quite reach Holloway’s eyes. A tell that she hadn’t forgotten their previous interactions, but rather that she was willing to put them behind her. For now.

“What about you, Mr. Mason. Are you more of an outdoor or indoor person? Most people would assume that given your choice of Department, you’d like to stay inside. But I understand that appearances can be deceiving at times.” The sentence was harmless, but Molly’s tone carried in such a way that a paranoid person like Holloway herself might read it as an insinuation. Whether purposefully or not, it was not apparent.

Holloway, CO

Mason was quietly amused that the tough as nails CO across from him had such a issue gardening, but it was also understandable. The work load of ship’s commander was no joke at all, and there was always one more thing to do. Even as just an Ensign it seemed like the paperwork never ended just for his small share of the ship. A few dead plants sacrificed in the name of keeping the ship running smoothly was both understandable while still entertaining.

However, the sharp undertones in his superior’s voice reminded him that things weren’t… peachy keen as his father used to say. While Captain Holloway was a CO, she was a spook first, and everyone knew once a spook, always a spook. The black shirts he’d run into had a tendency to have long memories and burning need to know everything about their mission. He unfortunately had made himself a secret, a mystery within a spook’s domain of influence. Not only that, but he was now in the black shirt’s lair, and would have to watch his step.

“Well ma’am, I have to say I’m more of a tinkering person. Doesn’t matter if its indoors, outdoors, in the void, or in the engine room, I just want to have my hands on something that needs fixing. ” He said, and then before he could think better of it decided to spice the conversation up a bit. “I do make sure to leave my deceiving garb behind until the witching hours though ma’am. Tends to add an air of mystery to the thing I’m about to go fix.”

Ensign Mason, Engineering


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