Fixing an Access Panel ?

Posted on Sat Oct 24, 2020 @ 10:28am by Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca & Lieutenant JG Ace Cannon

1,630 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Et In Arcadia Ego
Location: Arboretum
Timeline: MD 07,

Ace had been mildly disappointed that Brianthe did not show at 1800 yesterday but she had given him fair warning that she had a lot of cleaning up to do. Given that it took him quite some time to get dry, shower, and get dry again, he barely stood lookout for her. When she did not show, he shrugged his shoulders and headed for other distracting attractions.

Yet, Brianthe still stood on Ace's mind for reasons he could not comprehend and he did have an access panel to fix. So, when he knew that she was on duty, he made it a point to visit the Arboretum again to fix the access panel. Strutting back in, the moment he saw Brianthe he told her with a sly smile, "I'm here to fix your access panel."

"I was wondering when you'd take care of that," she said. She had a bag of fertilizer over one shoulder. "Go right ahead. Some of the nutrients had leeched out of the soil with the flood."

"I did tell you that I would get to it the next day, did I not? I am a man of my word," Ace replied, making an "x" with his finger over his heart.

"Yes, I remember you saying that." She smiled at him. "I'm glad you came to save me from fretting over it." She opened the bag and dumped the contents into a container filled with detritus.

"Fretting is not something that I would like to see in any person that I meet. There is too little time to fret." He looked around and noticed that the Arboretum looked like it had been cleaned up. "So, you were definitely busy yesterday."

"Yes. There's still a lot to do if we don't want the plants to get root rot," she said. "And we have to fertilize." She began mixing everything together. "Fortunately, the plants in the workroom were on tables."

"I see," Dylan responded, knowing the opposite was true. "It is difficult to believe that they are so fragile and that technology cannot do these things rather than your manual attentions."

"I like getting my hands dirty," Briathe said. "Besides, computers can check the chemical composition and rough mixture, but humans are still better and getting the proper consistency and blend."

I *BET* you like your hands getting dirty Ace thought greedily. "Why is that?" Ace asked curiously.

Dirty old man, she thought to herself, catching his very loud thought. "There's something about getting your hands in the dirt, the way it feels between your fingers, the way it smells. I find the scent of rich earth and loam to be quite appealing." She finished mixing and filled a bucket with the mixture, then headed over to a tree to start packing it around the roots.

Ace followed Bri over to the tree, watching her pack, hoping to catch a glimpse of some of her supple flesh. "I cannot imagine much more appealing than you," he told her.

She glanced over at him, amused. "I'm sure you say that to all the women you meet--even if they aren't mucking about in the dirt."

"Hardly," Ace replied honestly and somewhat annoyed that Bri thought he was THAT simple. "Most women do not meet my standards," he replied curtly. "But I do not deny that I enjoy mucking about with some."

She recognized the truth in his words and chose to reciprocate with honesty. "I get offers to muck about," she said, "I prefer something more stable."

"I'm sure you do get offers," Ace responded. "But from where I come from there's an old saying, 'Without risk, there is no reward.'"

She turned to face him directly. "Where I come from, the women are taught to dance, tell fortunes, and entertain--for money. I took a risk and left that life. For me, life is a risk, love is a risk. Playing around is just bad judgement." She shrugged, her voice taking on a touch of a Romani accent. "I say prove your heart and brain are not in your pants."

"Seems clear to me that you are just full of baggage. The only thing certain in life is death." He tipped an imaginary hat and shrugged.

She looked at him and laughed. "I call it being selective. You call it baggage. But it's no matter. We are both happy with our choices. I didn't need to do a reading on you to know what you were like. It's not a bad thing, it's just who you are."

"Just who I am?" Ace laughed hardily. "Assumptions on assumptions." He shrugged. "Well, at least there will be one access panel that I will be fixing today...."

"As are your assumptions of me." She shrugged. It wasn't that she didn't care, but more that the conversation was leading her to believe he was not her type.

"I do not recall asking you to prove anything," Ace replied with a shrug, moving towards the access panel. "Perhaps you should clear what you believe to be my misconceptions."

She watched him for a moment. He was definitely not like most Lotharios she'd encountered on this station. Since he'd moved back to the access panel, she went back to her mulch.

Ace started working on the access panel, stealing occasional looks over at Bri, wondering why she had not replied to him. Normally, he might not care about a woman who was this much work, but there was something about her that just irritated him enough that he had to continue this conversation. Perhaps it was her beauty. No, that alone was not enough. After all, he had lain with more than his fair share of beauties. It was no time at all before he finished taking care of the "sticking problem" of the access panel when he walked back up to Bri and said, "So, by you not clearing up my alleged misconceptions, I guess you admit that I was correct." He shook his head disappointedly.

She looked up at him. "No. You went to work on he access panel, I went back to mulching."

More irked than before, Ace still managed to hold his cool. And she did not follow? What an odd woman. Nonchalantly, he tried to shrug her comment off. "Well, it is repaired now...."

She stood and turned back to him. "Thank you. I appreciate your coming back to fix the panel." She was grateful, and he did do a good job.

"It is what I do," Ace replied with a slightly sarcastic bow. "Is there anything else of yours that requires my attention?"

She chuckled softly. "The access panel is enough for now."

"Then 1800 at Guiliani's," Ace replied with a sly grin.

That made her laugh. "You are incorrigible. I don't know. I have a lot of mulching to do. Then I have to purge the water system. I'll have to pass, I'm afraid."

"I agree, you're afraid," Ace replied with a winning grin. "Tell you what, I'll just be 'fixing this access panel over there' for a lot more time and help you get your job faster." Having solved her last excuse, Ace smiled triumphantly.

She shook her head. "I've been working ten to twelve hours a day for the past week. I will continue to do so until everything is back to normal. Unfortunately, the arboretum and gardens take up a lot of area. You're welcome to wait, but it may take a while."

"I'm not certain I understand your meaning of 'wait.' Until after you've worked ten to twelve hours or something else." A perplexed look came across Ace's face as he wondered why he stayed around such a complicated woman.

"Wait as in, it will be a while before I have a free evening," she said. "There's a lot of work to do here."

Say, what? She's blowing me off? That never happens. Well, we will see about that! "I do recall stating that I would help. It would get your work done sooner or do you just like being a martyr?"

"Martyr?" She laughed. "I'm not a martyr. I'm a botanist. That means, I'm responsible for all the plants here." She raised an eyebrow. "If you really want to help, there's some fertilizer on the top level. It needs to be added to the flower beds. Paula can show you how to do it properly. You need the right mix and protein levels."

"If it will get you out of here sooner..." Ace grumbled.

"Tonight? No. And probably not this week. But it might cut a few hours off the total time it'll take," she replied blandly.

"A few hours...." Ace considered his options and wondered why he was spending so much time negotiating with this woman. It was not something that he normally did. "I have duties as well," he started. "I will let you know by comm if and when I can come and assist you get your tasks done more quickly. Certainly, if you have other malfunctions here, I could combine some of my time."

It was pretty much what she expected. "I will let you know if I have any malfunctions that require your attention." She grabbed a handful of mulch and dropped it next to a plant. "Or if something springs a leak."

I can think of some of her malfunctions that require my attention. Ace thought ruefully. "Very well, I am at your service." He gave a slight bow and started to turn to leave.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said. "Thank you."

A Post by:

Lieutenant Ace Cannon
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
DS5

Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca
Botanist/Assistant Chief Science Officer

 

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