Flight check

Posted on Saturday 15 July 2023 @ 15:24 by Lieutenant JG Wintrow Paragon

Mission: Where no one has gone before
1039 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Mathias had been meaning to get to know the people who are at the helm of the Merlin during different shifts. Much had been happening as of late. He decided to pay a visit to Lieutenant Paragon's quarters. He could have just asked Wintrow to the ready room but to Mathias that would probably give the young man some worry. Arriving at the door bearing cookies, ( something his mother had always insisted on) Mathias pushed the chime to let Wintrow that someone was there.

Easily worried as the young pilot was still, it was a good thing he wasn't summoned by the XO. Still, not expecting any visitors, Wintrow cast dark eyes towards the door in surprise as the chime sounded. "Come!" he called, wondering who'd be coming to see him. AS far as he knew, he wasn't late for any shift and didn't have any duties to attend to. As the door slid aside to reveal the XO, he jumped to his feet, PADD sliding from his lap and connecting to the carpet with a thud. "Sir!"

"Oh my!" Mathias uttered seeing the PADD drop to the floor. "I do hope your device is okay." stepping further into the room and letting the door close behind him. "Sorry for the surprise visit, I thought I'd drop by and bring some cookies. Hopefully you are not allergic to chocolate chip cookies. My sister Avelina had made them." holding out the plate of cookies towards Wintrow. "Mind if I have a seat?" the redhaired XO asked, with a genuine warm look in his eyes.

"uhh sure," the young man stuttered as he went to retrieve his PADD, "no I don't have any allergies that I'm aware of. Uhm, would you like some tea or coffee with that sir?" He could sense the XO was genuine in his apology as well as sense of pride in the sibling. "I actually do love chocolate," he admitted, "especially white chocolate and Belgian chocolate. What about you?"

"Tea would be lovely, and I do like dark chocolate. White chocolate I don't like but to each his own. And I will agree with you on the Belgian chocolate those are very good." taking a nearby seat. "You are probably wondering why I decided to drop by with a plate of cookies and say hello. I am working on getting to know the crew."


"I see.." Wintrow got up to get a pot of tea, two cups and some necessities and set them down on the small coffee table. "I don't think I've ever had an XO drop in on me before sir, at least I don't remember Commander Kentar on my prior assignment ever having done so. This is, however, the first time I don't have a roommate."

Mathias nodded, "Well hmmnn, I've known the XO of the station where my family lives, known from time to time they've dropped in on us, well invited that is." giving a chuckle. "I just wanted to get to know those on the ship, sure that will be a daunting task but, its worth trying to do so." the red head taking a seat. "You do know though, that you actually can say no I do not wish you to visit, and that will be that."

"Why would I say no though," Wintrow countered, "there's nothing wrong with it, I'm just surprised." He poured the tea and offered the cup to the XO. "What did you do before you became an XO?"

"Well then, what did I do? I was in Operations before I became the XO and I think I was in science when I had the opportunity of going into operations. That is a bit fuzzy there." Mathias chuckled. "We had quite a bit going on then." he took a sip of his drink, and picked up a cookie to eat.

"Why did you change fields?" For the life of him, he really couldn't fathom ever considering changing field. He felt like a pilot in heart and soul. Despite dabbling a bit in engineering so he could fix his own craft, he really wanted to be nowhere but in flight.

"I needed to expand my horizons, and well I felt the call to go into Operations. Therefore I did so. Then there was the need for me to be an XO of which I was willing to do so. I go where I am needed." Mathias giving a shrug and another smile before munching a bit more of his cookie.

"Why did you feel you needed to expand your horizons? Surely it's not a requirement? I mean...I love to fly, it makes me feel free but I also don't like to be dependent, so I wanted to learn to fix my own craft." Wintrow took a sip of his coffee. "What if I crash? I wouldn't have an engineer on hand to do it for me, right?"

Mathias nodded in answer to Wintrow's comment. "Its not a requirement to expand the horizons. I am actually someone who likes to work with his hands so, Operations seemed to be a good fit for me. Don't get me wrong, I love science, its great to discover new things and study them. As I had mentioned before Ops seemed to be the next logical step for me to go."

The younger man nodded slowly. "I like to do things myself too," he admitted, "not that I don't trust a team, it's just that little bit of control... It's a feeling that's important to me, to have some control over what happens."

Mathias gave a bit of a nod. "Well then that makes for a good thing as well." smiling kindly. He looked around once more, then said. "I probably should get going. I just wanted to check in on you. We will talk more later." getting up from the chair he'd been sitting on. "Enjoy the cookies. And thank you for sharing."

The younger man nodded. "Thank you sir," he replied, not really sure what else to say.


OFF:
Lieutenant j.g. Wintrow Paragon
(Fighter) pilot
pnpc Seklar

○●● Lieutenant Commander Mathias McPhee
Executive Officer
USS Merlin