Wandering around the Promenade, Arwa was trying to get a feel for the station, its people, and their situation. Since her quick arrival at the base, the Engineers were going to be trouble-minded. Not so much that they would be troubled, but the amount of work laid ahead for them was no easy task. This means that these poor souls would get into a state of burn-out if they were not careful. 

Having her hands behind her, she looked around the living area. Her eyes were fixed on a man working on a generator. She stopped and looked at him, letting a soft smile appear as she walked to him and looked at what he was doing. “Quite fascinating to see such a fragile piece of technology being restored and maintained by such experienced hands.”

Granth was kneeling on the ground, an array of spanners, welders, wires and circuitry around him. He had his PADD in hand, looking at a schematic of the generator. He had to admit, he wasn’t familiar with technology this old. It was a learning curve for him. He looked up as he was spoken to and flashed the woman a bright smile, “You flatter me, miss. Its both a headache and a miracle I feel.” He studied her for a moment, then said, “Must be a new face around here. I haven’t seen you before– Granted we all are new I suppose.”

Nodding to his description of the problem, “Does sound like a miracle worth the headache” Arwa continued to smile at him. “That is a keen observation there; I believe you are the Chief Engineering of this station if my dossier is not outdated. I believe you have a famous nickname…that just stuck with me. What was it again” She tapped her shin and then nodded to herself, pointing at him. “Crash, right? I am Arwa, officially the station’s new Counselor.”

Granth’s cheeks flushed at the mention of his nickname, “Oh dear, that made it onto the dossier?! Likely with a warning to never let me pilot.” He pushed himself to his feet and brushed off his hands and offered her a handshake. He learned quickly that it was a proper greeting action for humans, “Granth, Crash, Krajj, Mister Fix-it… No preference what you call me. That would be me! Welcome aboard. Something tells me you may become just as busy as the Engineers.”

Seeing the dirty hand, she grinned to herself and just shook the man’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you. Yes, this station is a bunch of new challenges, that’s for sure. But of course, the amount of stress being put on your team builds up every time you guys fix something and somewhere else breaks it down. So I expect the visit rates from the engineering department to be rather high” She lets go of his hand “But it is good that I get to talk to their chief first. You left quite a …situation behind from your former home Commander. Every person that has endured something like what you did got a mental hit by it. Are you okay leaving it as it is?” Instead, she dove deep, seeing that no one was in the area. A light talk could be squeezed out.

Granth blinked rapidly a few times. He wasn’t expecting her to dive in so quickly, but he also half expected such from a counsellor. He nodded fitmly once, “Feel free to send me lists of what is broken when you find it, I’ll get to it when I can or send one of my engineers out… Ah.” He paused momentarily before continuing, “I suppose the definition of being ‘okay’ is subjective on who you ask and who is asking.”

Noticing that she hit a snare, she nods to the offer “I tend to be a sacrificing person as my needs for a perfect office can wait. Plus, I rarely stay in the office. I rather am in the field, only for private talks I stay there” She eyed the Commander as if she was giving him an open invite. “How is the morale under your men? Most newcomers like us will be shocked at the state of the base and knowing the situation we are in currently.”

He nodded at that, “I already did a walk through of medical, wouldn’t hurt to do a walk through of your office as well. There’s a bout of malfunctioning doors lately. Can also discuss my definition of ‘okay’, if you are so keen.” He caught on and looked faintly amused. At the question of how the other engineers under him were, he inhaled sharply through his teeth, “Broken, desolute, depressed, tired souls. I think that describes the Engineers but also most the station.”

She placed her hands behind her back and nodded at what he said. “Well, my doors are….malfunctioning open for you as I am keen on having your mental health as tiptoe as it can be” Hearing the information coming from the station chief acknowledged the dire situation of the station. An average person would ask why they would be here if it were such a dump, but Arwa’s eyes glitter at hearing it. “Well, it confirms my suspicion about the condition of this base and its people. There is a lot of work to do for us both” Hearing suddenly a light drop from behind them as she looked over her shoulder in the direction, “Well, the station is falling apart…”

Hearing that, Granth leaned to the side slightly to peer around Arwa. He gave a long suffering sigh and tapped his commbadge, “Commander Krajj to Engineering. Need two to the Promanade to fix a downed light on grid C-7… no, like actually downed. On the ground. Smashed. Thanks.” He closed the line. He looked back at her, “I suppose having the department heads with a clean bill makes things much easier? I am not opposed to it…”

Arwa was still surprised at the light when he finally looked back at him. “I think no one has a clean bill, or you wouldn’t have gained a special notation in your records being…crash, right?” Arwa laughs softly. “If your department is being like this, I am going to avoid my department” It was true that she had not visited the office yet, wondering how many requests were waiting on her and the pile of files. 

Granth chuckled and nodded slightly, “It might be safe to use Medical as a temporary office. I’m sure Longfellow won’t mind and would understand. At least till I can give a safety sweep.” Offering a bit of humour, he says, “No, you are right, I think my bill has engine grease on it. A few coffee stains maybe.” He waved a hand rather non-chalantly, “Crash was from crashing a shuttle into a base right out of the Academy. Not my best moment.”

Leaning carefully at the generator he was working on, “Do tell, how did you get into a situation by ….well crashing a shuttle into the Academy? It sounds like an impressive feat that should not be honored” She notices a single engineer walking to the broken light as if he found the danger and smiles at it. 

A bit of colour tinges Granth’s cheeks, “Distracted piloting. My at the time partner decided docking time was an opportune time for a kiss. I’d rather admit I fell asleep at the throttle.” He kept a side eye on the Engineer, ready to swoop in like some overprotective parent at the slightest hint of trouble.

She rose her hand to stop the idea of him barging in. “The bird needs to learn to fly by themself; making mistakes is sometimes a natural process of improving” She looked back from the Engineer to him. “So a kiss is all it takes to make you crash into the Academy and be a life lesson study material for future cadets?” Arwa laughs softly. “I wonder what you will crash into at this base, Commander.”

The blush from his admission did not fade, “I’ll scan and inspect it at a later time. The circuitry is annoyingly fiddly here. Strange mix of new and old.” Granth snorted and folded his arms, “I hope I don’t crash into anything. Command may not like that and I think I am getting a bit old for that.’

“You are never old to repeat former mistakes. So I guess that this base is a perfect fit then. A mix of old and new combined to function somehow,” She said, realizing that it made some sense in her head. “But I am not going to hold you off your work any longer as there is still a lot to do” She pushes off the generator. As it moves, it starts to function and purr like a little kitty cat. “Well, how about that.” 

Granth chuckled, “I’ll do a sweep of your office soo–” He stared at the generator, “How the heck did you do that!?” He looked at her, “Ever consider a transfer to engineering? Could get you to lean on everything to make it work!” He chuckled and shook his head in disbelief, “Been tinkering on that for hours.”

Walking at his side, pathing his shoulder “It’s a trait secret” She winked at him and had no clue how she did it as she walked away. “See you soon for that talk, Chief” Arwa was going to enjoy this station more than she expected, with new problems and challenges. 

Granth waved at her, “Till later!” He stooped to gather his tools and parts, puzzled by the generator’s sudden fix. A mystery to solve at a later time.