Taking a Break

Posted on Sun Apr 11th, 2021 @ 2:45am by Gunnar Arnason & Sublieutenant Renee Hernandez

1,835 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Chapter IV: Unravelling the Mystery
Location: Mess Hall
Timeline: 238702.14

Gunnar all but stumbled into the Mess Hall after spending most of the last few days in medbay. The emergency was over, but half of medbay was practically an ICU so in a lot of ways the work where he was most needed had continued well past that. He didn't mind - it was his field and he was good at it. However, at this point he needed more of break than just passing out on a cot in the office.

"Hey, Renee. Any chance there's still breakfast, and more importantly, real coffee?"

Renee smiled at the sound of Gunnar's voice... his very tired and exhausted voice, "Glad to see you're finally allowed out of medbay. Kaol was just here earlier looking worse that you do. So yes to the coffee... and I'm going to make you some fresh banana pancakes."

Commander Rogers did a double take at the sight of Gunnar Arnason... he looked like the Arnason she worked with on the Amelia but he was definitely not him, "When do I get banana pancakes?"

Renee rolled her eyes at the Terran, "When the stew is done!" She looked over at Gunnar, "It's so hard to find good help these days... I'll get you a cup of real coffee while you wait. How is it going in the medbay? "

Gunnar did do a double take at Ash's voice coming from the kitchen, but only because he was tired enough that it took a beat to realize it had to be the other Ash. Still, mirror Ash cooked? He blinked as if to reset his eyes. "Thanks, Renee, I can't say how much I appreciate this," he said taking the coffee. "And pancakes of any sort sound amazing. You know how medbay food is." He shook his head, smiling a little. "But it's been too busy to get away before now. Lots of injured, most badly, but half of them are Romulans, so it's all I can do to keep them from trying to get up and limp back to their stations."

Renee put a supportive hand on Gunnar's shoulder, "You came to the right place. Going to get you caffeinated and fed and maybe you can convince Nancy to do the same. I'm sure she hasn't left the medbay since this all started."

"I'll try, but I sent Nancy to her quarters to sleep after the last surgery," Gunnar said, and his mouth went a bit sideways. "She's hell bent on showing she can keep working ever since."

"You're doing good work down there," the Terran said, still stirring. "Kaol seemed a little worse for wear when he was here earlier. On a Terran ship, we would be less inclined to save the wounded. However, I've been patched up by my fair share of doctors and nurses in different universes that I appreciate the dedication that you all have." She exaggeratedly stirred the pot so Renee saw that she was capable of multitasking.

Renee's eyed narrowed at Mirror Ash before she nodded begrudgingly and continued to make the batter for Gunnar's breakfast, "I heard about Gedak... how many did we lose?"

"Too many," Gunnar replied heavily, staring into the black coffee a moment. "Eight in total - six of them were beyond hope when the came in. Fortunately Gedak was the only one Kaol lost. I'm not sure if he could have handled losing more. In fact I was worried about a couple I thought might not make it post-op, but... I wouldn't be here if I didn't think they'd turned the corner."

"That explains why I haven't seen you in days," T'Ango said coming in. "Hi, stranger," she said, giving him a one armed hug and she sat down beside him. "And hi, Renee. Are those banana pancakes you're mixing?" She asked hopefully, giving her big kitty eyes.

Renee smiled when she saw T'Ango, having her old friends around lately has made her move to the Ourainavassa a much smoother one. Yes, everyone has been very welcoming... as she thought about Xia, she shook her head of the pleasant but very inappropriate thoughts she was having. She had never been more grateful that her friends weren't telepathic. Seeing friendly faces after a long time, especially after a breakup where you shared mutual friends hasn't been easy. "Of course! Another order of banana pancakes for the big kitty," she said, walking over to give T'Ango a scratch behind the ears.

Commander Rogers brought Renee more ingredients to make another batch, "Here you go, that should be enough to feed the big cat too. T'Ango, right?"

T'Ango flipped an ear at the Terran and gave a curt nod. She wasn't her Rogers, and she didn't like the idea of her trying to move in on her Rogers mate ...or ex-mate (still a weird concept for a Dosadi)... but still.

Renee was about to chastise the Terran, but she did have to admit that her bringing additional ingredients was actually helpful... the fact that it came from an alternate universe doppelganger of her ex was not, "Thank you, now--"

"Yes yes, back to stirring," the Commander said with a wink. "You're welcome. That's the nicest thing you've said to me since we met... I might just win you over yet," she called out returning to the kitchen.

Renee groaned as she looked over at T'Ango and Gunnar, "She's even more of a pain in the ass than our Ash... so how are the repairs going?"

"Yes, how is your patient?" Gunnar asked, giving her an affectionate smile.

"I think she'll make it," the feliniod replied cheerfully. "In fact, it may be more than a full recovery. The fried shield generators were replaced with upgrades. Of course I had to dig into savings a little." She glanced at Gunnar, she wasn't especially worried that he wouldn't agree, but normally she would have asked for concurrence first.

He nodded "Sounds like a good call. Can't spend anything if we're dead, right?"

"Speaking of that..." T'Ango reached under his scrubs, pressing lightly on his ribs. She smiled when he lifted brows at her. "Just checking for duct tape."

"I promised I'd get them checked, didn't I?" It wasn't technically a lie. He had promised, and he had had them checked. Eventually. "A couple small breaks, nothing serious."

Renee looked Gunnar over, "Duct tape?"

Commander Rogers called out, "No wonder Kaol was so dismayed. I would come out and give you kudos for your ingenuity if Renee wouldn't make me need duct tape as well... And to think that Terrans think of this universe as soft...."

"It was what I had," Gunnar stated levelly in the tone of someone who had already repeated that line more times than he cared to. "We took a beating and the console that exploded on me fried the osteo regen in my medkit. I'm not tough, just practical. We were sitting wherever we'd managed to warp to, no idea yet where you guys were, so I did what I could with what I had." He looked at T'Ango, a look holding at once a shared joke and gratitude that she was still there to share it with. "Besides, bleeding beats broken and the tears in her shoulder came first."

"He worries too much. I've had worse," T'Ango said primly, and looked at Renee. "The gash in his thigh was worse. But you know how he is." She rolled her eyes upward dramatically, then grinned, chuckling. "So there we were - him insisting on doing my shoulder first, so I had to use my good hand to keep pressure on his leg so he wouldn't pass out from blood loss because he's too stubborn to admit he's worse off."

Gunnar shook his head, but smiled. "Which one of us is the medic?"

Terran Rogers poked her head out again, "You both are sickeningly adorable." She shook her head at the thought of her universe's Arnason being like this.

Renee pulled the Terran back into the kitchen as she brought out two plates of banana pancakes and placed them in front of her friends. She then returned to the kitchen and grabbed the spoon from Rogers and replaced it with a plate of pancakes, "You can eat now, since you're clearly not focused in the kitchen."

Rogers smiled as she inhaled the aroma of the freshly made pancakes, "They smell delicious." She took a seat next to T'Ango, "Glad you had our backs during the battle. Skills as a medic or not, that was some good flying and protecting the convoy."

Renee looked at both Gunnar and T'Ango, "I'm just glad you're both safe. I'll even keep extra duct tape here, just in case."

T'Ango still wasn't ready to be friendly with not-Ash who was cozying up to Ash's mate ...or ex-mate, whatever. But she could be polite, if only because Gunnar would be disappointed if she wasn't. "The person flying was the medic," she said nodding to him. "I was manning weapons." She smiled; it was not necessarily a nice smile. "I don't have any oaths against harming people, especially people who prey on others."

The Terran sensed a shift in the demeanor of the big cat, from warm and friendly for Renee to a thinly veiled threat for her. These people are close to her counterpart in this universe and she was definitely intruding on their turf. She can't blame them. Such loyalty was uncommon in her universe. "Then I should be glad I don't prey on others... my job is to do what it takes to protect the timeline. Sometimes people may get harmed in the process..." she said looking at T'Ango.

"I can't take credit for the duct tape," Gunnar cut in before that got any more pointed. "We knew an engineer who always had it on hand, and he used it to tape a sprain."

Renee joined Gunnar in trying to de-escalate the conversation, "Whatever works, right? Burnie would have a field day with this ship and probably would find ways to increase efficiency or whatever to both our ships... with a slight chance of a small boom."

She chuckled, "That he would probably fix with duct tape... I wonder what Nancy would do if i got a box of duct tape delivered to sickbay?"

"Probably figure it was my fault and tell me to bend down so she can slap me upside the head." Gunnar laughed. "Might be worth it to see the look on Kaol's face though."

Renee grins deviously as she grabs a PADD, "Consider it done.... I might conveniently swing by for a physical when it's delivered..."

The Terran watches the dynamics among the trio, so informal... yet she had no doubts that despite their seemingly relaxed and decidedly not serious behavior, that each of them would kill for each other. Even this Arnason, who still throws her off. She actually feels comforted by that, knowing the mission that lies ahead.

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