A Quick Coffee

Posted on Thu May 15th, 2025 @ 12:25pm by Lieutenant Commander Ariana Monroe-Wayne & Lieutenant JG Deezell Vox

518 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Episode 120 - Guardian at the Gate
Location: Mess hall - USS Essex
Timeline: Current

Dee arrived in the messhall. She headed to the replicator and ordered a decafinated coffee, now that she was pregnant, caffeine was off the menu.

She sat down at a table and took a sip. She shook her head.

"Oh well, it's not great but it's better than nothing."

Ariana walked in PaDD in hand, heading straight over to the replicator for a stiff drink of something. Picking up her mug she headed over to Dee as she saw her there. “Hi Dee, tell me again why I said I’d be First Officer?” She sighed as she took a seat.”

"Now there's a good question. Only you can answer that as only you know what on earth was going through your mind at the time you agreed to it."

Ariana smiled. “Good point. I thought Counselling had a lot of paperwork involved, now I’m up to my ears in reports!”

"Being acting Chief Engineer is very much the same. Probably not quite as many reports but still plenty to get buried in. Other than that, how are you?" Dee asked.

Ariana put down the PaDD offering a warmer smile. “I’m good, how about you? Not overdoing it I hope? You need to take care of yourself now, not just for you but your little one as well.”

"Overdoing it?" Dee paused. "Does crawling through Jeffries Tubes count as overdoing it? " She asked.

“I could say yes, but in the long run you make the decision what you can cope with doing” Ariana smiled. “You definitely won’t be crawling through Jeffries tubes later on down the line.”

"Well, something will soon make that task somewhat difficult" Dee replied with a smile.

Ariana grinned before sipping her drink. “I can’t really preach about what you should and shouldn’t do, I was always overdoing it when I was pregnant.”

"I will do my best not to overdo things but I guess the best thing for me to do is to listen to my body. If my body says, stop doing something, I will stop."

Ariana nodded. "Now that sounds like an excellent plan. To be honest I'm missing my kids, I'm starting to hate leaving the station these days."

"I enjoyed leaving the station for short periods but that all changed when I found out I was pregnant. I know I'm ok here if something happened but I'd rather be on the station where my boyfriend, Jaxon, is.

Ariana nodded. "I understand, it gives you a whole new appreciation for the home environment the station represents doesn't it?

"Very much so." Dee replied. "I guess we ought to get back to work."

Ariana nodded. "Unfortunately so, I thought being Counsellor was tough at times, being an XO gives me a whole new appreciation for the lesser amount of paperwork I have to file!" she grinned.

"I can appreciate that, being the ACEO for the station. " Dee replied.

Ariana smiled. "Well I'll let you get back Dee, if there's anything you need let me know." With that she headed off to carry on with her work.

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