Room Mates

Posted on 13 Oct 2018 @ 11:35am by Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen & Petty Officer 2nd Class Donald Andrews
Edited on on 18 Oct 2018 @ 11:12am

1,583 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A - Crew Quarters
Timeline: MD -182, 0530

[ON]

Constantin Vansen pulled his bag with him as he walked down the corridor, counting the numbers. He knew which quarters were his and he had memorised the layout. So all in all, he was a happy man. The bag felt light in his hand though. Clothes. And that was sort of it, all he owned was in that one bag. No containers to send, no signing out his items. Just this bag. He smiled weakly to himself and shook his head. It was all he needed really. Clothes, food and the universe around him.

He moved to the door and smiled as it recognised him, sliding open. He stepped inside and put the bag down, pausing as he saw the man he assumed would be his room mate. He ran his eyes over him, memorising his height - shorter than Vansen- and his hair colour. He would get used to how he moved and sounded as he got to know him. Ah. Which reminded him. The man appeared human so Vansen gave a warm smile. "Hi. I'm Constantin Vansen."

Donald looked up as the door opened, for the door to auto open it could only have been his new room mate, he looked at the younger human for a moment or two before standing up, he was sure he'd seen him on the Schofield but he definitely wasn't one of the engineers. He offered his hand. "Donald Andrews, good to meet you."

Constantin took the hand, nodding as he held his eyes. "Pleasure," he said and let go of his hand. He had heard people say that when meeting people so why not. "Got a bunk already?"

"I have a tendency to move around a lot when I sleep." Donald answered. "Really don't want to fall off the top."

Constantin looked at him before he gave a small nod. "I am not bothered either way," he admitted with a weak smile, moving to the bunks. He'd have to be careful in the morning. But if he put his hypo under the pillow, he could take it without getting out of the bunk. It would make things easier. And then wait until it had hit before going down.

"Come in, make yourself at home." Donald said sitting back down on the lower bunk.

Constantin nodded and moved to unpack, putting the few things he had away before taking the small case with his medication. He moved up to the top bunk and placed it there, against the wall. "It's a nice room if nothing else."

"Still just a room for now." Donald said as Constantin moved around the room unpacking. "Haven't had enough time to settle in and make it a home yet."

Constantin nodded at the words before he moved to the replicator. "Would...you like something to drink?" he asked, wanting to offer before getting himself anything. Not just that, but he supposed they would need to get to know each other. Shift patterns and all that.

"Just some coffee wil be fine, thanks." Donald said, taking his boots off he lay back on the bunk.

Constantin nodded before he smiled weakly. "What sort of coffee? And milk? Sugar? Or one of those...different ones?" He liked coffee black and strong because coffee to him was just something to perk him up a bit.

"Nothing fancy," Donal replied. "Just regular old earth coffee, with milk."

Constantin nodded and walked to the replicator, getting a coffee black and a coffee with milk. He carried the two mugs over and handed one to Donald, taking a seat as well. He sipped the coffee, the burn of the heat and the bitterness spreading across his tongue. He liked it though. As the silence stretched he glanced over at the man, just studying him for a brief moment before he spoke. "So what department and shift?"

"Engineering, and beta shift." Donald replied then sipped his coffee. "And I beleive you're Ops, I've seen you when on the Schofield and you weren't with us in engineering.

Constantin nodded at the words before he smiled almost playfully to him, giving a shrug. "I was never clever enough to do Engineering. Can't tell you how the warp core works, just know how to fix stuff..." he moved his hands out in a full body shrug.

"Ops is just as hard as engineering, harder if anything," Donald countered. "I've mostly just got fixing things, the engines and power generation to deal with, you guys decide where it all goes, who gets to use it and a hundred other things."

"Oh, no...luckily I am so low on the pecking order I don't have to make those decisions. I'd be bought with a bottle of drink..." Constantin winked playfully before he sipped the coffee, sighing. "So we admire each others professions. We should do an exchange programme one day...a day in each other's shoes!" the thought did make him smile though, as if it was some brilliant idea. He'd enjoy that. He enjoyed peaking into what other people were doing, get a good understanding of departments. See the different organs of the creature, so to speak.

Donald let out a hhmm as he pondered what Constantin said. "That would be interesting but I think it will be hard to get Ensign Mimi, my chief and the Xo to agree to something like that."

"Maybe, maybe not," Constantin said with a small, almost playful smile as his body moved an inch closer to the other man for a moment so he could whisper. "But if we don't ask we get a no anyway," he said and pulled back, standing as he finished his coffee with something close to a grimace. "Okay, so...I suppose since we are sharing we need some ground rules? I mean, what do you hate, what are your habits and so on?"

"Well, as I said I tend to move around a lot when I'm trying to sleep." Donald started. "I do settle after a while but it can take some time."

Constantin nodded before he suddenly grinned. "Good thing you are on the bottom bunk then," he said before he rubbed the back of his neck, considering it. "I'm...not great in the morning. I'll wake up a bit early and just lie there, so I am not great company. Don't be offended if I don't reply in anything except grunts. I enjoy coffee so after an hour and some coffee, that's sort of it. I snore a bit...sorry...and I like long showers. Water showers, not sonic, but I know it is a luxury. I tend to be tidy though, so you won't see my stuff all over the place."

Donald laughed a little. "I'm a fairly heavy sleeper after I get settled. lets hope we don't have any emergencies while we're asleep, it'l probably be over by the time we both get to our stations."

Constantin nodded with agreement before he held his hands out and moved them in a shrug. "At least I am so far down on the important people list that no one would notice me not being there."

"I doubt it." Donald said. "If what one of the other engineers tells me is right not much gets past Ensign Mimi."

"Well, Ensign Mimi would be silly if she thinks I'll make a difference in a bad situation," Constantin flashed him a grin before he chuckled, shaking his head. Besides, with his condition, he just couldn't get up quickly if it was towards the end of his sleep cycle. Any other time, he would be fine. Perfectly fine.

"Why's that?" Donald asked.

Constantin watched Donald closely for a moment. He supposed his room mate needed to know it. So he decided to be completely honest. "I was raised in...close to zero gravity. As a result, my body needs medication to function in this gravity. I have one dose a day, when I wake up. It takes a bit to kick in and I am slow. Heavy limbs, struggling to move quickly, disorientation...that sort. So if it is at the end of my sleep cycle, I need a bit of time to take my dose and get it working.

"Ah I understand how akward that could be." Donald said, he'd met a couple of heavy worlders before and understood some of the differences they experienced in what was considered by most to be 'standard' gravity.

"At times," Constantin said as he nodded, holding his eyes before he smiled weakly. "I am fine to work and all that, but without the medication I get...slow. So don't worry if I am not that perky in the morning."

Donald sipped his coffee. "So leave you be until you've had your meds and they've had a chance to kick in."

"Ye...please," Constantin said with an apologetic chuckle. "I promise I am usually less of a pain in the ass. Just...that bit, you know?" he met the other man' eyes, holding them.

"No worries, everyone has their own quirks, we'd all be robots without emotions and little quirks." Donald said.

"And no one wants that!" Constantin agreed with a warm laugh, nodding to himself. This would work. He would be fine living with Donald, they'd get on decently enough. And he suspected there would be mutual respect there.

[OFF]

--

PO3 Constantin Vansen
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO2 Donald Andrews
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A

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