As the hum of the shuttle slowly came to a stop, two people remained as the last batch of Ensigns to arrive on the USS Morro Bay. Ensign Velau Prias, and Ensign Ra’ann Mazev.

A bit of an odd figure, Mazev just didn’t seem to know when to hush up: MUCH to Velau’s dismay. Being Trill, it seemed like most thought it a jolly grand time to come and have a conversation with her. She’s met talkative people before but this man took the cake.

“Wow, can you believe it?! A Cali-Class! A real one, and we’re going to be on it!” Mazev nudged her, a smile plastered along his face.

“Why would you willingly want to be on this ship?” Velau sneered, glaring at the Orion-Bajoran. “It’s a low level workhorse. Nothing about it is ‘good’.” He seemingly took extreme offense to that, a gasp emitting from the man and his hand over his heart.

“How could you say that?! The California Classes are only the best in all of starfleet!” Mazev glares right back.

“We’re the blunt of starfleet right now. Why can’t you see that?” She rolled her eyes, leaning backwards. “This isn’t my most favorite starting post.”

“but we get to do so much fun stuff! Second contact is always so nice—you get to see everything flourish!” Mazev smiled, proposing the idea to his fellow ensign.

“No? It’s boring, and no action actually comes from it.” She scoffed. “If anything, we’d be better off somewhere else.”

”uhm, ‘somewhere else’ is how I nearly lost my whole leg. This is fine! Besides, what about Dr. Sullivan? I heard she’s a big favorite among the crew!” Mazev was trying very hard to get a positive reaction.

”Yeah, well, if it meant not having to see you here, I’d prefer you did lose that leg.” Velau hissed.

“Wow, I knew you were nothing short of a stick in the mud, but this?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She snaps at the man, standing upwards.

“Hmmmm…let me think…hmmmm…oh, I know! You’re kind of mean?” He put his hands on his hips. Velau stood up as well, staring him down.

“If you want mean, I can show you mean real quick, buddy-”

“AYE!” A voice called. The two nearly fell over backwards to glance at who yelled, seeing the face of…

“C-Captain! Hello!” Mazev quickly and very panicked-ly adjusted his posture. Whilst Mazev was panicking, Velau had seemingly flipped a switch and turned into a completely different person.

“Captain Jettaaaaa! Oh my goodness, you look so cute today!” She squealed, happily walking over and looking at the captain’s nails. “These are gorgeous!”

”Oh! Well, thank you, Ensign.” Jetta smiled at the girl. “I heard some shouting and got concerned—is everything okay?”

“What? Obviously everything’s finneeeee! Me and my new best friend ever were just having a little debate.” Velau gave a big smile, walking back upwards and putting an arm around Mazev’s shoulders.

“That’s good. I was a little worried!” The Captain turned on her heel and beckoned for the two to follow. “Now, I need two people to aid me in a small task I have—seems like you two are perfect! Come along.”

As the captain turned her back, Velau instantly took her arm off of Mazev and sneered at him, whispering. ”I won’t hesitate. Watch your back.”

”Hesitate on what??” He whispered back, audibly and visibly confused. “Hesitate on what?????”

The two ensigns kept on glaring at one another as they walked. Each time Mazev nearly fell because of his limp, Velau mocked him by mimicking it. It was in bad taste, but Mazev knew not to respond to essentially school yard taunts.

”So, as you know, there’s a lot of switching and change coming along the USS Morro Bay. It’s fun! But also..a little complicated.” Jetta smiled back at the two. “SO, once you both get settled in, I have your first personal assignments.”

”On our own? Thank the prophets.” Mazev muttered, crossing his arms.

“Oh, no. You’ll both be stuck to each others hips like glue for the next two days!” Jetta clasped her hands together, eyes scanning over the twos reactions.

”………Yaaaay.” Velau muttered.

“I want you both in charge of a big social we’ll be having. It’s a good way to introduce the new crew to the old!” Captain Dowe did a little pose, shaking her jazz hands with a big smile.

“Captain, surely this isn’t the right call.” Mazev frowned, looking anxiously to the side at his fellow Ensign.

”I agree with him. What do you mean work together??” Velau glared to the side.

”My choice is final, Ensigns.” Jetta’s posture started to change—a tell that she has to get a bit more intense: something she doesn’t enjoy doing.

“Captain, if I may-“ Velau started to speak, hastily getting cut off.

“You may not.” Jetta spoke matter of factly, tone one of fact and tact. “Ensign Prias, I’ve looked over your recent track record and I’m not that impressed.” She stated, bluntly. “Working with your fellow crew mates—no matter if you like them or not—is important. Being kind is the first step in that.”

She turned to Mazev.

”Mr. Mazev, whilst I’m thrilled to have you aboard and admire your skills for the California class, you cannot put on a smile and assume things to pass.” She continues to walk, eventually coming to one of the conference rooms. “I expect you two to work together—and nicely, at that—with little issue. This means respect on both ends. Am I clear?”

”Yes Captain.” Mazev responded. Velau just nodded, crossing her arms.

”Good!” Jetta smiled brightly, the serious demeanor now replaced with her casual and laid back one. “Now, I have a chief engineering officer and medical officer to greet. You start at 0900 hours—go get settled in.”

“0900. Understood.” Velau said through gritted teeth.

“perfect! Now..” Jetta turned to the doors, opening them as she spoke. “Helllooooooo! This is where Doctor Sullivan and Mr. Ruuvan are, right?” As the doors closed and the captain went out of sight, the two Ensigns glared at each other.

”She has to be joking.” Velau scoffed, glaring at the man across from her.

“She must not be.” Mazev put his hands on his hips in response, sassily looking at her. “We can either get this done and never have to speak to one another again, OR we can fight for the next two days and have the Captain hate us.”

”Can you keep your mouth shut for more than two minutes? If so, sure. We can make this easy for us both.” Velau glared.

”If you can stop making fun of my limp, then sure.” He rubbed his face with his hand for a second, before coming back with a smile. “Okay! Let’s just get this done. I’m going to go get my belongings. See you tomorrow in the shuttle bay?”

”. . . .Sure.” Velau waved him off, nearly feeling sick to her stomach from all the positivity around as she was watching him walk away. ”Welp. This sucks.” The girl adjusted her hair, trying to keep her anger in check. Velau didn’t understand why she acted that way. But what mattered most now?

Getting some rest.