Pride and Paintballs (Belo/Akade)

[Skyler Akade 0]

((From the 8/2 chatlog:))

Skyler Akade -> ::starting to straighten things up out in the front from being knocked over by the earlier antics; casts a few glances sideways at Tauariki as he reemerges, wet shirt and all::

Jed Scarlett Tauariki -> Innogen> I'll go check if they manage to miss the mountain of feed bags I was offloading ::cocks his head in the doors direction ::

Innogen Belo -> :: Looks up at Jed. :: Sounds good.

Jed Scarlett Tauariki -> ::smiles in Skyler's direction before going back towards the feed bags and the empty hovertruck waitig to be filled::

Innogen Belo -> :: Turns and looks over at Skyler. :: Want to know what you are feeling right now?

Skyler Akade -> ::gives Innogen an only partially feigned look of death; they've had similar conversations before:: No...I have a pretty good idea. ::eyeroll::

Innogen Belo -> :: Grins evilly. :: Want to know what HE is feeling right now?

Skyler Akade -> ::headswivel::

Skyler Akade -> ::pointed look at Innogen for a moment and then rolls eyes so hard they almost fall out of her head:: You're an ass, chief.

Innogen Belo -> :: Still grinning. :: That's Lieutenant, Ensign, Lieutenant. :: Goes back to cleaning up. ::

Skyler Akade -> Fine. You're an ass, Lieutenant...

Skyler Akade -> ::grins::

 

A mischievous grin flashing in her eyes and playing across her lips, Innogen laughed. "Tell me, how does my teasing you about your obvious infatuation with our new engineer make me any more of an ass than you? Not an hour ago you were teasing me about dirty old men who like to flirt."

 

"It's not an infatuation," Skyler said, blushing, as she leaned up against the wall of the somewhat tossed-and-tumbled Primos Minor general store, absently squeezing a bit of paint off the edge of her uniform. "And I never claimed I'm not an ass, either," she added dryly.

 

Actually, it was kind of hard not to feel like one, standing on unfamiliar ground covered in bright pink dye and having just turned into a mumbling, clumsy idiot in front of their new CENG for the space of about twenty minutes. But she didn't really have to explain all that; Innogen of course already knew. Verdomme Kriosian empathy...

 

"Besides...maybe I wasn't teasing you at all -- perhaps I was just impressed with his taste," she added, letting a slight smirk slide onto her face as she glanced at her friend.

 

"Keep telling yourself that, maybe then you'll start to really believe it." Smirking as well, Innogen turned and began to sort goods into two piles, salvageable and unsalvageable. "This is an utter mess, but it did break up the monotony of being repurposed by Starfleet as a ranch hand. I hope those kids had a good time of it." 

 

"I'm sure they did...kids usually do," Skyler said absently, grinning to herself as she remembered the chaos of growing up amidst an extended Denobulan family. "Plus, if you've got a bike like that, I suppose you want to use it," she added with a laugh, starting to relax a little. "And besides, it's not so bad being a ranch hand...reminds me of my pre-vet days back at Triaxa before I realized that I was way too lazy to be birthing Atrixan goats my whole life..."

 

Mimicking the sounds of snoring, Innogen stopped her sorting for a moment and batted a stray hunk of hair, loosened by the paint projectiles and now bright green in color, out of her eyes. "If being a ranch hand made you so happy, you don't need to bore me to death with details I already know. I am pretty sure we can find a new job for you on this planet if you want to go back to it."

 

Skyler rolled her eyes. Innogen had heard a *lot* about the (often rather gross) details of practical xenobiology when the two of them had roomed together in college (and later at the Academy) and never lost an opportunity to remind her of it. "No fear, you're stuck with me," she said cheerfully, too accustomed to Inno's sardonic style of humor to be crisped by it much. Pushing off the wall, she moved towards the front door of the store and glanced out of it to make sure Tauariki had indeed departed before addressing herself to the straightening of a paint-splattered shelf.

 

Unable to repin her hair back into some semblance of order, Innogen finally gave up and let out the rest of pins, shaking out the wavy masses and poking them behind her ears. "You know what? I think I like this green. Maybe I should get some permanent streaks?" Turning to solicit Skyler's opinion, she saw her friend struggling with a shelf and moved to help. "Did you ever think we would end up on the same assignment like this?"

 

Skyler shook her head, leaning on the shelf thoughtfully. "No, not really. We got lucky with Personnel...or at least I did –-- most of the time," she added, shooting a grin sideways at Innogen and eyeing the green paint laced through her hair. "Yeah...that's definitely a good look for you. Gives you the bad-girl aspect you're always trying for...I'm sure the Kriosian royal family'll love it."

 

Whipping her head around, Innogen stared at Skyler for a moment, eyes narrowed. "I am not in the way of being concerned for what they care about any longer." she snapped, her words taking on a sharp edge her and typically non-existent accent becoming more pronounced. Silence fell between them, lingering with an awkward air.

 

"Let's get everything back in order before Commander Wesley beams down more supplies. We do need to get these distributed so we can move on to the next settlement,” Innogen said crisply, in an attempt to pretend nothing had happened.

 

Skyler winced. "Sorry, 'gen," she muttered. Innogen hadn't really ever talked much about her family, though from what she *had* said, Skyler could guess they weren't the sort for streaked hairdos and spattered paint. It was always a bit of a toss-up as to how touchy her friend would be about it, but probably it had not been the right time to bring it up. Two for two for sticking my foot in my mouth... 

 

"Minus the mess in here, the supplies are more or less all stowed," she added, more businesslike, glancing in the direction of the rear door behind which a wide array of imported cattle stood milling about. The engineers -- particularly the chief, she thought with completely non-impartial reflection -- had been pretty efficient about getting everything unloaded. "I think we'll be ready by the time the Commander calls."

 

"Well then," Innogen began, still somewhat stiff and formal in her speech, "you may as well go and help Lieutenant Tauariki catalog the livestock feed as we had planned earlier. Dismissed, Ensign." Turning on her heel, she moved to the back of the store, her eyes, which moments before had been sparkling with humor, now cloudy and troubled.