Following Up

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 8:28am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant JG Vecon Fick
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 1:47pm

Mission: New Moon Rising
Location: Ensign Fick's Quarters

A Mission Post by Captain Nycolas Temple & Ensign Vecon Fick
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: Ensign Fick's Quarters
Timeline:
Wed Nov 8th, 2017 @ 11:19am


ON

The Captain liked to make house calls to the crew's quarters. Sometimes that led to unguarded conversations and significant personal bonding; sometimes it led to accidentally seeing the Security Chief in a state of undress. It wasn't always the best idea.

Despite this, Nyx felt compelled to look into Ensign Fick. After coming onboard a few weeks ago, the young officer had been promoted to Chief of Flight Control, navigated the Pandora through a dark matter nebula, participated in a rather haphazard incursion on Ferenginar, and been the center of a particularly dramatic love triangle. Suffice to say, it had been a busy month.

Chiming on the Ensign's door, Nyx waited with anticipation, hoping he could impart some advice to the young man.

Fick had been feeling rather dejected after everything that had transpired during his time onboard the Pandora. Of course there hadn't been a dull moment either. He had been relaxing in his room, trying to talk himself into staying there and not looking for trouble he could get into when the buzzer rang. Curious and a little bit afraid of who it might be he got up, shirtless, only wearing a pair of civilian pants and went to the door. When it slid open his eyes widened a little. Now, I've really done it. The Captain came to my quarters. That can't be good.

For a minute Fick didn't know what to say. "Uh... Captain!" He tried to put on a brave smile. "Hello, sir... uh..." He looked over his shoulder into his quarters, suddenly worried about their state of cleanliness and realized he was good. "Well... come on in." He stepped back out of the doorway to allow Nyx access to his quarters. Fick didn't have a whole lot of personal items, but the few he had were colorful and interesting. There were several small, but unique abstract paintings on the walls, but other than that his quarters were pretty barren of personal items. "Would you like to sit? Want a drink?"

Nyx lumbered in with a mawkish smile, "Apologies for catching you at a bad time." He looked around the quarters with a polite expression, as he lowered himself down onto the couch. "I won't say no to a drink, if you're having one."

"It's not really a bad time..." Fick picked up a lightweight shirt from the arm of a chair and pulled it on. "It was just a surprise... well... sort of a surprise... I mean... considering what happened. Actually, I'm surprised we're not meeting in your ready room." He stepped over to his replicator and pressed a button. "Two Risian sunrises please..." When the drinks appeared he picked both up and returned to where Nyx was sitting and offered him one. "The synthale sort of makes it a little bitter... but I still like it..."

"I like to keep you guys on your toes." Nyx remarked with a grin, "And I'd prefer to keep this informal if possible, hence why I'm meeting you here."

Nyx took the offered drink and savoured the tangy taste. "Delicious. Hmm. Well I guess the pertinent question is how are you?"

"Okay. I'm okay with informal." Fick smiled a little and then sat down in a chair near the end of the couch Nyx was sitting on. He took a large drink of his drink and then set in on the low table between the two and shrugged. "I dunno. I'm okay I guess. Part of me wants to be mad... but part of me is also in a way flattered. Is that wrong? I guess maybe it's because he never said a damn thing... forgive my language. I mean MIndo and I aren't serious. We both come from places where sex is sort of the norm. It kinda makes sense that we fell in together... but K'Laus. That was nuts. Is he in a lot of trouble?" Fick actually looked at Nyx worriedly.

"I won't lie, there is a possibility his provisional officer status could be revoked. Meaning he would be removed from Starfleet service." Nyx replied flatly, "His actions, however rash and alcohol-induced, violates a number of safety and conduct protocols. He's lucky he's not an officer, or the punishment may have been instant. Instead we must wait for the SCIS to investigate."

Fick nodded and rubbed his face. He looked seriously at Nyx. "I feel responsible. I feel like I started it... and I mean... he's a Klingon. They're sort of impulsive. Is there anything I can do to help? Anything I can say to someone? He didn't really hurt anyone... I mean yeah he threatened... but no one really got hurt. He was off duty." Fick was searching for anything really. He reached for his drink and downed the rest of it. He shook his head. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do..."

"Ensign, remember your training." Nyx replied solemnly, as he adopted his Captain's tone, "The Academy teaches us responsibility and self agency. That when we put on the uniform we abide by the codes of conduct that makes the Federation a proud and righteous institution. Klingon or Talarian, he was Starfleet the moment he stepped onboard this ship. When K'Laus allowed personal emotions to impair his ability to uphold the Starfleet standards of behaviour, he showed a disregard for the values that we have sworn to live up to."

Fick sighed. He knew the Captain was speaking the truth it was just hard to deal with. He wished there was some way to make an exception, but he knew that if you gave one exception then when did it stop? "I know. I just also know he didn't mean anything by it. That he wouldn't have actually hurt MIndo."

Sighing, Nyx leaned back again, not wanting to sound too stern, "You can make a statement to Agent Glyndar that would inform her of the extenuating circumstances of K'Laus' outburst. And if you can, get him to voluntarily partake in anger management counselling with Lieutenant Richmond. This will all help his case."

"I'll definitely make that statement to Glyndar." He looked a little more hopeful. "Do you want another drink? I just realized that I didn't really even ask you what you wanted to drink." Fick chuckled. "I'm not so sure about the counseling. Getting him to do anything I want is far from reality... and I'm sure trying to get him to go to counseling would be rather like putting a saddle on a targ."

Nyx chuckled as he handed over his glass for another drink, "True, but it may be the only thing to save his job. If he can show remorse and a commitment to improve his anger management, they will take that into consideration. It looks a lot better if he does this voluntarily, rather than under orders from me. And I suspect you may be the only one who can get him there." There was knowing glint in the Captain's eye as he said this.

Fick took the Captain's glass and went to the replicator, placing both empty glasses inside. "Two Risian sunrises please." When they appeared he once again took both glasses and offered one to Nyx. "You really think he'll listen to me? I mean... I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything. I just found out that the guy really likes me in the weirdest way possible." He laughed a little and sat down again. "I mean... have you ever had someone get so jealous without speaking to you about how they feel? Sure I've been flirting with him, but I didn't think he was taking it seriously. He's very attractive, but I've hit on Klingon males before and it seems to be insulting to them. So I really never expected him to respond in a positive way. Not that that display was really positive."

"That was flirting?" Nyx replied incredulously. "At the dinner party? And on the Bridge? Man I've been out of the game for a long time but even I couldn't tell that was flirting." He paused and smiled, "Even so, if his feelings are so strong that he would react this way out of jealousy for you, then I don't doubt that in his own, stubborn, monosyllabic way, he cares for you. And, hopefully, that means he'll listen to you."

Fick laughed. "That wasn't the kind of flirting you do with everyone... just Klingons. You have to be aggressive and forward and kinda mean. They seem to like that. At least the females that I've been with. Apparently it works on the guys too. Like... I wouldn't flirt like that with you... not that I would flirt with you, but still... I hope he'll listen too. I mean I'll try." He took a large swig of his drink and set it down, shrugging a little. "I don't really know what else to do. Although, I still feel like I should be in trouble for this too." He looked at Nyx and rubbed his own face again.

Nyx took a breath before frowning, unsure of how to phrase his response. "You have been.... impulsive... in your personal affairs. I know you're young, first time in service, and you've been thrust into the senior officer's circle very quickly. Everything has been a whirlwind for you. I've always encouraged the crew to form relationships for companionship during the long journey." He paused and shrugged, "But. It may be... uh prudent for you to slow down a little, consider your choices to make sure you're making the right one."

Fick nodded seriously in agreement. "Although I didn't think I was making any choices. Mido was just for fun and... well I had no idea I was even making a dent on K'Laus, but you're right. I'm really sorry that this all got so messy. I guess maybe I'm not as good as I thought I was at all this." He picked up his drink and finished it in a large swallow. It's really hard to know what the right one is... but I know I'd rather be with the Klingon." He shrugged and tipped his head back and forth. "I do really like him. I'd like to not have to stop liking him, but he's gonna have to help me."

"Well I wish you luck, I think you'll both learn a lot from each other," Nyx remarked sincerely. "Exercise patience and communication, you'll find your rhythm together. But be cautious for now, I don't want you getting too hurt should Lieutenant K'Laus be unable to continue on the Pandora."

"Thank you, sir and I will. I'm already trying not to get too attached. It really makes me sad that I gotta do that, but there's nothing for it. I'm not going to leave the Pandora even if he does, but the whole situation just blows." He frowned and rose from his seat, picking up his empty glass and shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Captain. If I had known it would have never been like this."

Nyx stood as well, and gave a chuckle, "My friend, there's no way you could have known. Life just has that funny way of turning all your plans and ideas upside down. I went to a Federation colony once on assignment and ended up meeting the love of my life. I put my Starfleet career on hold and moved to the colony just so I could try to woo her. But that's a story for another time."

Fick eyed Nyx with a little bit of a new appreciation. "Thank you so much, Captain. It really means a lot to me that you were willing to come talk to me about this and be understanding as well." He ran a hand through his short hair and looked up at the taller man with a sincere smile. "I'm gonna hold you to storytime though..."

The Captain patted the young Ensign on the shoulder, "Talk to K'Laus, and help him through this. That's the most important thing right now."

Fick nodded and followed Nyx to his door. "I will, sir. I hope I can help him. First, I gotta convince him I'm not mad at him." When the door slid open Fick looked up at Nyx again. "Was it worth it, Captain? Putting your career on hold for her? That's all I wanna know... was it worth it?"

After taking a moment to consider what he now had in his life, Nyx looked back Fick, his eyes just a little bit moist with a quiet joy. "Absolutely." He replied.

OFF