Like with the rest of his crew, RJ had no idea what to expect when he headed down to engineering to meet his new Chief Engineer. Given Mason’s hand in his crew, he’d half expected another llanarian. He certainly didn’t expect the stunningly beautiful woman standing in the middle of the space, a padd in the crook of her arm and a fierce look on her face.

“Good work people! Lockdown protocols were enacted well within the guidelines. Keep this up and I’ll buy you all a pint in the pit later,” she called out, her voice melodious, with an odd burr in it that raised the hairs on the back of his neck. 

RJ stayed in the shadows of the doorway, arms folded over his chest as he watched her. She was tiny, but her stance made her seem bigger… almost amazonian, so much so that his brain kept trying to rewrite what he was seeing and make her bigger. 

He blinked and shook the impression off, stepping forward. “Hey there…”

The woman held a hand up, finger raised as she appeared to be counting down, looking at the padd screen she held. RJ blinked, but held position, charmed rather than annoyed at being made to wait. One thing he had learned growing up on a cargo transporter was that the chief engineer was basically god in their domain. 

“Okay,” she said, folding her padd into the crook of her arm and turning to face him. “What can I do for you…” 

Her silver-grey eyes dropped to the pips on his collar and her smile set, just a little. Most people wouldn’t have noticed it, but RJ wasn’t most people, especially when it came to a woman this beautiful. 

“…Captain?” she asked, that burr in her voice sending a shiver down his spine. He managed to suppress the reaction and offered her a winning smile. 

“Just making the rounds and introducing myself to my new crew. Although,” he admitted in a low voice, leaning in a little. “It’s so I can see the ship as well. I’m as new aboard as you are,” 

She watched him levelly. “If you say so, sir.” 

Okay, she was going to be a tough cookie to crack. It was a challenge, but he was more than up to it. He moved on quickly. “So, do you have everything you need? I hope the previous chief left everything in good order for you.”

She nodded, just once. “He did. At the very least, things about here aren’t as screwed as they normally are when I arrive on a ship.” 

He blinked at the blunt comment and tilted his head. “Just a question. You’re not a close personal friend of Captain Mason or anything, are you?”

She frowned. “Who? No, I don’t know a Captain Mason. Why?”

“Oh, no reason. No reason at all.” RJ’s grin grew wider. So Mason didn’t have his claws quite as deeply into the Resolute as it seemed. “Since you seem to have things in order around here, I’ll carry on my tour. Pleasure to meet you, Chief, I’m looking forward to working with you.”

She nodded, watching him as he turned and headed for the door. With each step, the skin between his shoulder blades itched and his hackles rose. He beat the feeling down and cast a glance over his shoulder when he reached the door. The chief was still watching him, her expression unreadable. 

Then she nodded and turned away, and suddenly, he could breathe freely again. He watched her stalk away to her office, a predatory grace to her movements that was fascinating to watch. 

He snapped himself out of it, and left engineering, a spring in his step. A new ship, a new crew and both a dinner date and a drinks date somewhere in his future… things were looking up.