Where Is My Chair?!

Posted on Fri Dec 10th, 2021 @ 9:00pm by Rear Admiral Lucas Thorton & Senior Captain Sharrina Blackstone & Senior Chief Petty Officer Teri Lane

Mission: To Tread Cautiously
Location: Command Offices
Timeline: 2388/09/01 0925.1 (Mon. Sept. 01 2388 9:25am)

After the customary routine of the change of command ceremony was over, Lucas Thorton entered his new office for the first time since it became his. The natural lighting that streamed into the room was perfect and, appreciatively, he walked over to the window to look out over the view.

All of the buildings of Magellan station were a stark white. And there were architectural reasons for it that Lucas understood. One of those reasons was a bold intentional showcasing of the Colonial-class station's landscaping; the beautiful walkways and gardens.

The angle he was looking at them from was something he would never take for granted. So, deciding to take a picture to send to his mother, he looked around for a tablet and ended up staring hard at his desk as he realized he didn't have a desk chair.

Just then his office door slid open and there stood Teri. "Oh, uh...Sir!" she startled as they saw each other at the same time. He had a scowl on his face that would scare the bejeebies out of anyone not experienced. "I didn't realize you were here..." She then winced. "I should have checked. I apologize." And as he continued to stare, she took the box she'd been holding over to the desk, also noticing that something was still missing. Her eyes darkened with annoyance at the lack of a chair. Crap... Why isn't the chair there? Someone is going to hurt.

Sharrina moved through the halls like a ghost, her father's Native American heritage showing itself in the silence of her footsteps. She held a small box in her hand as she approached the new office Lucas now occupied, her intention being to congratulate him. But, apparently, she was not the first. She smirked to herself as she noted the yeoman's expression. "Yeoman," she greeted as she entered, catching the look on Lucas' face. She was about to ask what was wrong when she noticed the missing chair... and chuckled slightly. "Really? He took the chair?" She sobered a second later and offered, "I can get one from my office for now if you like, sir."

His expression softening, Lucas glanced over at Sharrina and shook his head, "No, thank you," and then to Teri, he lifted both eyebrows, stating firmly, "Now get me a chair."

"Right away, Sir," She replied pleasantly, hiding her own murderous intent, and headed towards the door. She backed out of it as he watched her, giving the room one last quick glance over to make sure they weren't somehow missing something else that hadn't been replaced. Didn't need a missing wall to add to the rear admiral's ire.

Sharrina watched the yeoman leave then turned back to Lucas. Smiling, she moved to stand before the desk. "I won't take up too much of your time," she began, smirking slightly, "I can see that you are very busy." Oh, she knew that would be true soon enough, but for now, she was teasing him about the situation she had walked into.

Lucas was recalling the evening before:

"Will your chair be staying, Sir?"

Maddock had smirked, "What do you think?"

The admiral's chair was a lovely executive style, made out of a leather-like material, where the fibers were produced by an Andorian insect. He'd been made aware that it was a gift Greg had received from the UFP president and had brought with him from his last assignment. Lucas had known this.

"No," Lucas had sighed. "but one can only hope."

Sharrina then chuckled. "Guess you'll just have to envy him, Lucas." she teased.

And now he wondered if the Admiral was behind this...

He started searching through the box Teri had left there, answering Sharrina's smartass question with a glance as well as a question of his own. "What can I do for you, Captain?" He had seen the box but wasn't going to acknowledge it.

Sharrina remembered the conversation from yesterday, but she had not thought the admiral would actually take the chair. She should have thought given the look of the chair. That had definitely not been Starfleet-issue furniture. She, of course, had not known where he had gotten it, but still...

"Actually, I don't need anything, Lucas," she answered easily, setting down her box. It was about fourteen inches long and 8 inches wide and 8 inches tall. "I just came to congratulate you and give you this."

His expression unchanging, he picked up the box while simultaneously placing down a tablet he'd found. He started opening it, questioning at the same time, "When did we start addressing each other on a first-name basis?"

Momentarily, she was caught off guard. She really hadn't realized she'd done it, but now, as she thought about it, she wasn't entirely sure how she had gone from one to the other. She did remember that she had used his given name during the conversation with Maddock about whether he'd take the chair or not, and he hadn't challenged her use of it or even looked at her oddly. She remembered that it had felt natural then, and it had now too. But he was right, as she went over their few meetings in her head, she could find nowhere that he had expressly given her permission to do that.

Cursing softly under her breath at herself, she had the decency to look properly ashamed of herself. "I apologize, Admiral." It was sincere too. Granted, he did not seem affronted or even annoyed, but it was bad form to address a superior officer by given name without permission. She knew better. "I didn't mean to overstep my place." She smiled a bit then, though that smile was still a bit self-effacing. "Though, in fairness, you didn't say anything the last time I did it," she pointed out with one raised eyebrow.

He gave her a knowing look; she was right that he hadn't, but there had also been a reason for it. He proceeded to open the box while saying in the process, "I would have liked to discuss it, but we were not..." he pulled out its contents as he finished with, "alone..." looking pleased as he stared at a lovely nameplate made out of wood.

She nodded to his words, but she was glad that he looked pleased with the gift. She had taken a guess at his style, so she was pleased that she had been correct. "That's a fair point. Again, I apologize." Her smile became more natural again as she moved on. "My father, Captain Blackstone, knows artisans who still do these things by hand. I can connect you if you ever want to have something made the old way," she said by way of information and offer.

"Noted," he said, still looking the nameplate over, appreciating its weight. He then placed it down at the front of his desk before giving her a smile, something that was not seen often. "Thank you, Captain, and thank you for the gift."

Sharrina's smile was pleased and warn. "You are most welcome, Admiral." She'd had to remind herself to call him that since he had mentioned it. "I'm glad that you find it to your liking." The sincerity of both the first and second statements was evident in her eyes and tone.

She knew that they both had work to do, so she should leave. But before she left, she wanted to make sure that he didn't need anything from her at this point as his Exec. Her manner became serious, the demeanor of the Executive Officer. "Is there anything you need from me before I go?"

Lucas stared at her as he thought about it. His expression was unreadable. Besides the usual checking in on Command operations, he'd intended on the day to be an easy one with tomorrow not so much. Now there was something else on his mind, "You can check on our yeoman," thinking she would get his meaning; he wanted his chair.

Sharrina studied that look he was giving her for a moment. Had she overstepped her place? Well, he didn't seem angry or upset with her, so she guessed that was not the issue. Then he mentioned the yeoman, and her eyes were drawn again to the conspicuously missing chair. She smiled. "Of course." Turning, she left his office, checking at the yeoman's desk to see if the woman was there before hunting her down elsewhere.

The momentary quiet of the outer office was broke by the sharp snap of Teri Lane's voice. "Let me get this straight, you thought an assumption was-?" She was facing away from the office doors, eyes glaring unseeingly at her nails as she talked.

"I don't care how busy you are. We all are busy, everyone has been affected by the changes. That is no excuse for half-assed work. Oh yeah, go ahead and report me for language. Get a damn chair here now. Like you should have done in the first place before I file one heck of a piece of literature on your job performance." Teri took a deep breath, reminding herself she didn't want high blood pressure like her father. "Oh, make sure it's the chair I asked for. Again, do. your. job." She finished, a scowl on her face as she mimicked the useless toad she had dealt with while turning to find she had an audience.

Well flying Targ poo

Schooling her features into something calm and collect, she asked Sharrina, "Is there something I can do for you, sir?"

Sharrina couldn't help it. She knew the situation was serious, but the woman'd had such an expression -- her father would have called it 'caught with your hand in the cookie jar' -- for a brief second before schooling her features that Sharrina had to chuckle softly. "Did that officer let his targh leave a pile on your lawn, or are you always that rough with the folks in Requisitions, Yeoman?" she asked, half-teasing the woman.

A twitch of a smile teased at the corner of Teri's lips, "The man's Targh runs wild smearing excrement everywhere, sir. I am not sure rough is an adequate response, to be honest sir. " Teri stood and pulled her chair from her desk, pushing it towards the Admiral's office door.

"He's likely going to need mine for a bit. Even if toa.." She barely stopped herself from calling him a toadstool, "Req gets right on it they still have to go through the hoops. "

Sharrina chuckled. "Keep your chair. You'll need it. I have an extra in my office that he can use for the time being," she told the yeoman, chuckling at Teri's comments about the man from Requisitions. "As to the rogue targh, he'd better hope it doesn't leave its mess on my lawn. He'll never see it again," she joked.

Teri happily pushed her chair back into place before looking up at the Captain, a wicked smile in her eyes. "I hope I may have first row seats if that happens, sir."

Among some of the colony and academy social circles, her and the requisition department's feuds were already legendary. She prided herself on discipline and professionalism when it came to her career, her job. But the toadstool in requisitions who she seemed to always get stuck dealing with, was the exact opposite.

Teri hovered by her desk. "Should I get that chair?"

Sharrina chuckled again. "I can't promise that I'll be that restrained," she joked. "Yes, please get the chair, but not the one behind my desk." Of course, she knew Teri wouldn't take that one, but she was teasing the yeoman because of the interchange she had witnessed upon coming out of Lucas' office.

Teri let herself laugh this time "Well sir, you have foiled my evil plan." she replied as she went into the woman's office to grab the chair.

Sharrina laughed as well, returning to Lucas' office. "Teri's getting the extra chair from my office. Apparently, someone at Requisitions fell down on the job." She chuckled. "But that girl's a pit bull. I like her."

Lucas had taken the scenery picture he had wanted and was now aiming the tablet at his desk. "Good...she'll need to be," he replied, but with a scowl while moving the tablet some more in search of the perfect angle.

Sharrina watched him for a moment. "Is there a specific aesthetic you're looking for?" she asked.

His response was handing the tablet out to her. "Would you like to help?" was his reply, an expectant expression on his face.

Sharrina chuckled, reaching out then stopping. Her eyes narrowed as she studied his expression. "Do you ask in earnest? Or are you playing with me?" Her own eyes carried the slight hint of playfulness, but she hoped that she was not overstepping her place.

He caught the look in her eyes and narrowing his, half smiled, "With earnest."

Sharrina assessed his look for a moment then reached forward and took the tablet from him. Moving around his desk, she studied several angles. She took a few different pictures but frowned. "You know, when Teri gets back with that chair, I think that window would make a great backdrop to a picture of you behind the desk." She moved to him and showed him the pictures she had thus far. "But for now, I think these are pretty good..."

Looking at them, he nodded. "They are and I think you are right. The pictures are for my mother, after all."

Just then, Teri returned with the chair. Lucas was about to say something more to Sharrina when his combadge went off. He tapped the badge, opening the channel. "Command Center to Admiral Thorton. We have a situation that you might want to know about." Lieutenant Commander T'Prei Xan's voice came from the tiny speaker.

His eyes still fixed on Sharrina, Lucas' expression became more firm. "Captain Blackstone and I are on our way," he informed T'Prei crisply.

Sharrina caught the look in his eyes and the tone T'Prei Xan had used. She simply nodded to Lucas silently, confirming that she agreed completely with his statement. Granted, under other circumstances, she might have teased him about speaking for her. But these were not such circumstances, and so she gave the silent agreement and awaited his next move.

With her nod, he was leading them out the door, and with no more hesitation, barely glancing at Teri as they passed her.

Teri watched them leave before settling the chair behind the Admiral's desk and leaving his office. Not liking the start to their working relationship, she hoped he would warm up to her. Not that it was necessary for her to do her job. However, if he never did she would make sure toadstool felt the full weight of Teri Lane's heel.



~End