What Lies Beneath

Posted on Sun Apr 18th, 2010 @ 4:19pm by Lieutenant JG Hannah Andeti & Commander Earlond

Mission: Episode 1.2 - "A House Divided"
Location: The Orient Express
Timeline: MD09 1930

Hannah hadn't been paying attention when her food appeared in front of her and she jumped well after it had completely solidified. It had been a long day and as her eyes focused on the food she paused for a second longer than necessary before picking up both dishes and moving away from the replicators. Maybe it was because Michael had stopped drinking coffee, putting an end to her mid-afternoon coffee break that had done it, but as she moved over to the table she stifled a yawn, sliding the bowl and mug of coffee down onto the empty table top.

It was only after she had taken three bites, enjoying the quiet companionship of other officers in the messhall, that it came back to her that she wasn't going to be there alone.

The doors hissed open and Earlond walked into the Orient Express. He glanced around, finding Andeti at one of the tables before heading over to the replicators to get his meal.

Andeti dropped her fork back into the dish of paella and smiled at the commander before taking a long sip of coffee, hoping the caffeine would take some effect by the time he had brought his own meal over to her.

Earlond set his dish on the table. "Good evening," he said by way of greeting.

The lower-ranking officer stood, smile still in place. She bit back a comment on his almost Vulcan punctuality. "Evening," she greeted and they sat together. "How are you doing?" She asked, a counselor's habit as she reached for another bite of rice.

"Well, aside from the continued irritation of my comfortable chair, not too badly," Earlond said, offering a small smile. "Yourself?"

"Busy." Hannah laughed. "So I guess you'll be quietly suffering until we get into port then?" She smiled wryly at him. "Or not so quietly, maybe."

"Well, isn't it your job to listen to everyone complain?" Earlond asked. "I have a few lists if you really want to."

"I suppose if you'd like me to stare at you blankly while we eat, then go right ahead." She grinned. "Otherwise you have to make an appointment just like everyone else."

"I don't know if I have time," Earlond said ruefully. "Shame. I like your office."

"It's not as big as yours." Hannah smiled. "And the chairs are definitely too comfortable for your taste."

"True," Earlond said. "But I can stand, and bigger isn't always better."

"Well, I'll trade any time you'd like." She laughed and glancing up caught the eye of Myrin (NPC) as he stood in the queue for the replicators, looking around the lounge. She raised a hand to him but his face visibly paled as he caught sight of them and turned resolutely forward. Hannah had to hold back a smile as she turned back Earlond, she glanced between them. "Did you . . . have some sort of run in with Myrin?" She had a feeling she knew exactly the sort of thing that would have happened and she couldn't decide if she was annoyed by it, or amused.

"Who?" Earlond glanced around, then saw the ensign. "Oh, him. I think he was dropping something off in my office earlier. We had a few words."

She felt her eyebrow twitch upwards and she fought back a laugh. "A few words?"

"He more than I," Earlond said, shaking his head. "Why does he just let his words spill out? Isn't there some sort of 'off' button?"

"He's not usually too bad." She laughed, imagining Myrin bumbling around Earlond and she was almost surprised. He was always so confident, too confident with other officers. "He didn't imply that we were sleeping together, did he?" Then she laughed without allowing him to answer. "No, I don't suppose you would have let him live if he'd said something like that." She chuckled, looking at him.

"Well, it was a close call," Earlond said. "Fortunately, I dismissed him before he could say anything more dangerous."

"He's a nice kid. I would . . . appreciate it if you didn't work so hard to scare him next time," she said. She was serious, but she couldn't hold back her small smirk of amusement.

"Work?" Earlond repeated. "But Counselor, this is my play. It's a necessary relaxation technique to keep me from being overworked."

Hannah laughed and she put down her fork as she did so. "Yes, but must you relax with my assistant? Surely there are plenty of other bumbling ensigns for you to play with?" She grinned.

"Well, you're not an ensign anymore," Earlond pointed out, keeping a straight face.

"Oh so that's why you started to play nice with me." She took a bite of her food with a smile. "Maybe I should be grateful that I survived to become a Lieutenant with you around."

"Hey, it was because of me that you survived," Earlond said. "Iluvar's tough on his senior staff. You're lucky I was watching out for you."

"Sure sure." She smiled. "I should have known that you're only nice to the really attractive ones. Or maybe just those of us that can't tell a phaser rifle from a big stick." She chuckled again.

"Was I being nice?" Earlond asked in mock horror. "Please, don't tell anyone."

"Oh, you know your secret is safe with me." She closed one eye only enough for the shadow of a wink before returning to her food with gusto. "Although it might not stay so safe if you continue to pick on poor defenseless little counselors." She glanced up at him, a mischievous smile in place. "I'm sorry, but we do have to stand up for our own, you know."

"He deserved it," Earlond said. "I trust I don't have to tell you what will happen if you let something like that 'slip' to the rest of the crew." He glared menacingly.

"You know if I had a pip for every time you've threatened my life, I'd be able to threaten you without impunity." She grinned.

"Somehow, I think even as an Admiral you wouldn't threaten me," Earlond replied with a smile.

Andeti laughed but shrugged with mock-innocence. "Well I guess we'll never know."

"Oh, I wouldn't say never," Earlond said. "It's always a possibility."

"Yes but by that time you will probably be in prison for actually killing someone and what fun is it to threaten someone who's locked up?" She smiled. "Which I'm sure you have more first-hand experience with than I do."

"Threatening people, or being locked up?" Earlond wondered. "Probably both." He didn't add that he hadn't been sent to prison for the other times he'd "actually killed someone".

"I more meant threatening people while they're locked up." She took another bite of her meal with a smile when the man across the room caught her eye and it wasn't Ensign Nezar. The counselor leaned back in her chair and smiled automatically to the man as he approached them. The truth was that as much as she liked the man, when Earlond was around, Drake made her nervous.

He smiled and only then did Earlond look up. In his usual manner, Drake opened without preamble. "Are you sure it's me that makes you nervous and not him?" He asked, nodding to the commander but looking at Hannah.

The counselor laughed. "No, I'm quite sure about that Mr Lexon."

"Why would he make you nervous?" Earlond wondered, deliberately looking at Hannah and not Drake.

Hannah looked right back at him. "His penchant for telling the room exactly what I'm thinking." She smiled. "That shouldn't make me nervous?" She asked rhetorically.

"I've been getting better," Drake put in helpfully.

"Indeed," Earlond said, reluctantly looking at the lieutenant. "You've been staying away from me until now." He gave Drake a pointed look.

"Well, we can always talk about that if you want," Drake said amiably. Somehow, though, it didn't seem like he was talking about staying away from Earlond; their eyes were meeting with quite a few nonverbals.

As usual when these two were together, Andeti felt as though she had missed out on large portions of a conversation that might end in murder. She looked at Drake. "Did you want something, Mr. Lexon?"

"Oh, I don't think anyone's going to be murdered," Drake replied cheerfully. "Do you, Counselor?"

She laughed. "I certainly hope not."

"Not now, anyway," Earlond said, watching Drake. Drake gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Andeti frowned, she hated feeling out of the loop and it was becoming more and more apparent that whatever Lexon wanted, it wasn't with her. She looked down at her bowl and then back up to the two men. "Well, I should probably get back to work, leave you two to it."

"No, that's quite alright," Earlond said, his voice suddenly harsh and not directed at Hannah. "Mr. Lexon was just leaving."

The counselor sighed, but sat back in her seat, eyes on Earlond, the last thing she wanted was to become the middle player in some kind of tug-of-war between the two men. She forced a small smile, despite her annoyance and gave it to Drake, not saying anything further.

"Good night, Counselor," Drake said with a polite nod "Commander." Turning, he hurried away.

"You're not happy with what just happened," Earlond said to Hannah. It wasn't a question.

She looked at him for a minute and smiled before answering. "Call it counselor syndrome." She sighed, but without looking upset. "I know that I won't usually be at the center of everything that happens on this ship but sometimes it would be . . . nice to not be on the periphery of the excitement and," she smiled slowly. "The adventure." She looked at him and remembered very clearly why she . . . well, why she enjoyed his company. "You don't seem exactly pleased with it either.

"It's something I don't want to deal with at the moment," Earlond replied. "Mr. Drake and I have...business to attend to. It won't be pleasant for him; I don't know why he keeps bringing it up."

There was a strange tone in Earlond's voice that the counselor hadn't heard before and she looked at him. "There's nothing I can do to help?"

Earlond sighed. "Not at this stage," he said. "Drake's really in over his head. Not that it ever seems to bother him."

Hannah nodded and smiled. "Some people are lucky like that."

"Well...lucky for them, I suppose," Earlond said. "Not for people around them. Especially people like Drake, who can't distinguish between thought and word. Speaking of which, I heard that he came in to see you."

"He did." She nodded but frowned, dwelling instead on something else that he had said. "He's not getting you in over your head is he?" She knew that he wouldn't be giving her any details on what was going on with the man, but that didn't mean that she wasn't going to be worried for him.

Earlond smiled. "When have you ever known me to be in over my head?" he asked. "I just have to pull a few strings into place."

She didn't answer at once, but smiled as though reassured. "Just make sure I don't have to come rescue you or something." She laughed at her own self-deprecation.

Earlond frowned slightly. "Don't think I'm going to believe that smile," he said. "You're still not happy about this."

She grinned mischievously at him, avoiding the subject. "So you're trying to steal my job now, are you?"

"Now you're avoiding the question," Earlond said, his eyes narrowing.

Hannah's face straightened. "I'm," she stopped, trying to find the appropriate words. "I would rather avoid something happening that takes you out of my life." She followed the progress of a grain of rice as she pushed it around her bowl. After a moment she grinned and looked up at him, the fork dropping against the porcelain with a clang.

"Well, I'd rather avoid that, too, to be quite honest," Earlond said, meeting her grin with another of his rare smiles - smiles that did not seem quite so rare around Hannah anymore.

The counselor's smile became more natural and she chuckled. "Well, I'm certainly glad to hear that."

"I mean," Earlond continued, adopting a straight face, "who else could babysit the ship while the rest of us go on away missions?"

She scowled at him, lips twitching slightly as she resisted the urge to laugh. "Isn't that what I have an assistant for?"

"Ah, but your...qualifications make you perfect for the job," Earlond said, still maintaining a passive expression.

"Maybe so, but how is he supposed to get any experience if mother bear doesn't leave the den once in a while?" She bit her lip, trying to hold back a grin.

"We wouldn't want the mother bear to be in too much danger, would we?" Earlond replied, having an easier time refraining from smiling. "I mean, she might meet an alien predator...like a cat."

Hannah laughed. "I think this particular mama bear has had enough training to be able to handle herself."

"Oh?" Earlond asked, raising an eyebrow. "Should we test that theory of yours?"

Andeti cocked her head at him. "Is that an offer?"

"I suppose it is," Earlond said. "Shall we?"

Hannah smiled and nodded. "Does this mean I get to be on an away team if I pass?"

"Let's just say I'm not worried about that possibility," Earlond said. "I think we can run one of my training programs."

The counselor laughed. "Don't be too sure of yourself." She nodded again. "I'm ready whenever you are."

Finishing up his meal, Earlond stood and picked up his dishes, then held a hand out for Hannah's.

Andeti wasn't used to someone taking her dishes for her and smiled, handing them over. "Thanks." She stood. "So I'll get changed and meet you in the gym?"

Earlond shook his head. "Holodeck Two should be open," he said. "If we're testing your readiness for the next away mission, we're using one of my programs." Turning, he headed to dispose of their dishes.

End

by

Commander Earlond
Executive Officer
USS Pandora

and

Lieutenant JG Hannah Andeti
Chief Counselor
USS Pandora