It had been a long day yesterday and today they would finally be able to start loading up the wares into the cargo bays. It felt good to have some cargo to haul again. They were being severely underpaid and Mayterial knew that this was something that wasn't going to be over in just a few runs either. That meant they had to be smart about their routing. On top of that the challenge was always to try and find the quickest route without straying too far from the safety of the well established shipping lanes. That's exactly why it had been so important to get a qualified, certified, guilded, navigator. She opened a communications channel, not knowing where her top of the line navigator was hanging out at the moment.
Alexandria jumped at the summons. She was not having a good morning. She had yet to have a decent night's sleep since coming aboard, and the new routines on the ship, along with its condition, were all making her quite a bit stressed. She'd braved the showers for the first time since coming aboard, out of necessity, and as expected it had been a traumatic experience. Another woman had come in and had almost seen her naked. She'd left the showers somehow feeling just as dirty as when she'd gone in.
"Who is this?" Alexandria called out after fumbling for her communicator. People always sounded different over a commbadge, especially when it was muffled and out of sight. Of course it didn't look the same as her old Starfleet-issue one, and despite her noteworthy memory she seemed prone to losing track of it. With the ship still being worked on she'd been evicted from all her usual hangout spots... the bridge, the shuttle, and even that cozy little maintenance crawlspace off one of the cargo bays, where she liked to hide after being yelled at for getting in the way. So... she was back in her quarters, laying on her bed and waiting for someone to give her something important to do.
=A= This is the Captain. My quarters are on deck one, just off the bridge. =A= Mayterial always knew her line of work attracted some oddballs, she had the feeling that Alexandria was about ready to take the cake on that one though. She looked around the room and realised she should probably clean it up a bit more if she was going to be inviting crewmembers over to them in order to talk shop. At least the lounge area was cleared, as most of the clutter centred around her desk and bed.
"On my way..." Alexandria said with a sigh. She knew at some point she would be called to do some actual work, but she was simply too lazy to ever sound enthusiastic about it. She set down her gamepad and rolled off her bed, taking only a brief moment to look into the mirror before judging her appearance acceptable. So far the captain had yet to present her with any kind of uniform regulations or dress code, so her own definition of casual attire suited her just fine. She had on a plain black hooded sweatshirt with an obscure logo and some Chinese characters, and a pair of athletic shorts that went well with her black and pink-laced sneakers. She also appeared to have a pair of cozy knee-high socks layered over tights. There was a lot of black with some pink accents. As usual her hair was everywhere.
"You wanted to see me?" The navigator asked in person a few minutes later, as she peeked into May's cabin.
"Yeah. Please, come in." Mayterial had grabbed a PADD from her desk and sat down on the couch awaiting the arrival of her navigator, "How are you doing? I can't say I've seen much of you after the crew dinner." Part of that was on May being away for most of the day yesterday but she had the feeling that Alexandria hadn't been seen around the boat much either.
"The showers are inadequate. They're tuned too high and the sonic frequency frizzes my hair. Plus they need privacy curtains, or something. And my room still smells like cheap perfume, and the flickering lighting is... unnerving. You should also consider hiring more technicians, or at least pay the one you have a bit more. I suspect he stayed up all night last night working, and kept me up for much of it assisting him. You do not want your engineer to burn out mid-run, or want to jump ship the moment we reach port. All that aside, I have made myself available for piloting and navigation duties, if and when they are required."
Alexandria spoke like she was delivering a report. Little emotion, with no personal feelings or motives contained within. Her expression and posture didn't quite match her semi-professional response, however. Her sneaker caught the edge of a creaky deck plate, and she shifted her stance to try and duplicate the noise. Which seemed to unnerve her. She also seemed mesmerized by the captain's bed, which was the largest she'd ever seen. It looked like four people could sleep on it. The rumours were that Betazoids were a polyamorous species, but Alexandria hadn't really believed that until now. The room itself was too big for her taste. Too much wasted space. But that was coming from someone who would probably feel cozy sleeping in a torpedo casing.
"Thank you for sharing your concerns. I'll see what I can do about them." Mayterial wasn't really sure if this was just Starfleet that still needed to be sanded off somehow or if this was just the person in front of her. It seemed, though, that she was easily preoccupied with minute things and had some trouble seeing the grander scheme of things. "How about, for now, you just let me worry about my crew and how to run this vessel while you worry about connecting these dots in the most efficient and safe way possible?" She handed her a PADD with their cargo destinations, "Once we have our route logged I'd like for you and Tristi to find us some passengers heading in the same directions. Either for the full trip or just a leg of it."
Alexandria simply shrugged in response to May's initial statement. She doubted that the captain would do anything to address her concerns, but at least she'd appeared to listen. In Starfleet no one had listened to anything Alexandria had to say. Put up and shut up, or spend the rest of her tour in the brig... that's what her superiors usually had to say. No, on Fawkes the burden of change was mostly on her. If Alexandria didn't like how things were done, she'd just have to leave and find something else to do with her life. In that regard she didn't take May's semi-dismissive response personally. Plus there was the offered datapad that held the promise of work that actually catered to her position. Still lurking by the entryway, she approached the captain and took the datapad, quickly engrossing herself in the details. She joined May on her couch, too distracted by the information in front of her to realise she'd put herself awkwardly close to the captain.
"I'm not personally familiar with this sector, so I'll have to do some research. Won't take long." She assured the captain. Out in deep space she might have to rely on her own wits, but close to the comms network she of course had access to the databanks of the Navigators' Guild, as well as many other tools of the trade. She tucked her legs in beside her, turning to rest her knees on a comfy couch pillow as she began her initial plotting.
"I'll see what I can do, but safety and efficiency are not always mutually inclusive." She didn't realise that the warm, comfy couch pillow her knees were tucked up against was actually May's lap.
For a moment May could see the spark in Alexandria's eyes. This was why she came in that morning after meeting in the bar. Sure she was socially awkward and had quite a few quirks that they would have to contend with, like invading personal space without as much as a second thought or hogging all the meatballs. The moment the legs pulled up and came to rest on her lap May was taking aback for a moment. A situation not often experienced on her end, a feat that Alexandria had been able to pull off more than once in the short time she knew her. "If you don't mind, I'll return to work myself. I have quite a few errands to run still." She put a hand on the closest knee and gently pushed it aside, sliding herself out from under it and standing up from the couch.
Alexandria seemed only momentarily distracted as the captain pushed her aside. She grumbled for a moment and shot May a quick look to let her know that she'd nearly interfered with her calculations. After that she quickly stretched out to take up the rest of the couch. "May I use that?" She asked May, pointing toward the captain's personal computer terminal as she idly kicked off her sneakers, seemingly making herself at home.
"You do have a work station on the bridge, you know." Mayterial pointed out before looking back at the terminal. All her personal files were encrypted and inaccessible by a guest user. "But for as long as I'm out, feel free to use it." She was wondering if that was a mistake. "Just this once, though. Since the bridge has been such a mess the past few days." She started heading for the exit of her room. "And don't touch any of my stuff."
Alexandria gave May a quizzical look. Why would she touch any of her stuff? The room was a mess, with way too much clutter. The couch, however, was... adequate. She was a couch potato at heart. Most of her best laid plans in life had been made while lounging on a couch. It was a short list, but still. Alexandria looked at May as she moved to leave, as if on the verge of having something worthwhile to say. She quickly thought better of it and merely nodded before returning to her work. May had said she had errands to run. She probably would't appreciate being asked to come back with some coffee.