Milashka Mischief

Posted on Tue Jan 21st, 2025 @ 10:21pm by Lieutenant JG Kally Kellerman & Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronan Drake

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Sickbay

Kally was finishing up some paperwork at the end of her shift when she heard footsteps by her office door. She looked up and lit up with a smile. "Well hello there, milashka," she said. "What brings you by? Anything wrong?"

Finn popped his head into the doorway, flashing a wide grin as he stepped inside. “Hey, Kally! Nothing wrong—I just figured I’d come see you while he’s busy getting grilled by the Senior Chief.” He gestured dramatically over his shoulder, as if Axel were just outside.

“I mean, let’s be real,” Finn continued with a sly smirk. “You’re way more fun than Enor sounds, and Axel’s idea of ‘behaving’ is boring.” He leaned casually against the edge of the door frame, his grin turning playful. “So, what’s up? Need some help filing that paperwork? I’m great at supervising.”

Kally snickered. "Well, 'fun' is subjective--and with Jadizon, specific," she said, wryly. She turned to face him and sat back, crossing her legs, an evil grin on her face. "As for behaving...that is most definitely in the eye of the beholder." She nodded towards a chair across from her. "'Supervise' me for a minute more and we can bail out of here and go have some fun. Sound good?"

Finn’s eyes lit up as he slid into the chair across from Kally, leaning forward with exaggerated seriousness. “Supervising? Oh, I’m great at that. Consider me officially on duty.”

He grinned as he settled back. “Bailing out of here sounds like my kind of plan. But, uh… we don’t tell Axel, alright? He’ll start with his ‘responsibility’ lecture. You know, the one he gives right before doing something that’s definitely not responsible.”

"Not to worry, milashka,, " Kally said. "I don't need a similar lecture from my sister."

Finn’s curiosity sparked as he thought back to her earlier comment. “Hey, wait a second—you called the Senior Chief by his first name. Are you two, like, friends or something?”

"Yes, you hit the nail on the head," Kally said, keeping her eyes on her terminal.

Leaning forward again, he shot her a mischievous grin. “Or is there a story I should know about? Because if there’s dirt on him, I’m all ears.”

Kally glanced at him. "Hush, you," she said, unable to repress her smile.

Finn chuckled, crossing his arms. “Come on, Kally, don’t leave me hanging. I need something to make it worth putting up with Axel later.”

Kally rolled her eyes, then turned to face him and leaned forward, resting her elbow on her desk and her chin in her hand. She fixed her blue eyes on him and gave him a smile, putting on her best boy-catching face. "Finn, do you think I'm pretty?" she said, sweetly.

Finn blinked, momentarily caught off guard by Kally’s sudden shift in tone. He tilted his head, narrowing his eyes with a cautious smirk. “Uh… yeah, you’re pretty,” he said slowly, dragging out the words as if he were trying to figure out where this was going.

"So does he," she said, leaving the overly-street-smart imp to do what math he wanted. She turned back and finished her last report and closed her terminal.

Finn blinked, leaning back in his chair with a cautious look, his eyebrows furrowing as he processed her words. “Wait... he? Like, the Senior Chief?” His tone was uncertain, a mix of suspicion and curiosity, as if he was trying to piece together a puzzle he wasn’t sure he wanted to solve.

He tilted his head, narrowing his eyes slightly. “So, you’re saying he thinks you’re pretty too?” Finn crossed his arms, glancing at her with an almost comical expression of disbelief. “But, like… he’s so serious. How does that even work?”

Kally blinked and was about to ask him how Jadizon's being serious affected her being pretty, but decided one brain melt on the boy was enough and just stared.

He paused, fidgeting slightly, his pre-teen mind spinning with possibilities before leaning forward again, his voice dropping as if sharing a secret. “Is that why you call him by his first name? Is there, like, a thing? Or… do you just do it to mess with him?”

Finn’s face lit up at the thought, a mischievous grin spreading. “Because if it’s the second one, that’s hilarious. Please tell me it’s the second one.”

Kally smiled at him and leaned in conspiratorially. "I do enjoy messing with him," she said. "And you." She stuck her tongue out. "To be honest, I enjoy messing with people in general, sometimes. My sister and I would swap places on people to trick them. We called it 'twinning.'"

Finn leaned forward, a playful grin spreading across his face. “Twinning, huh? Sounds like fun. Too bad Axel and I don’t look enough alike to pull that off. Though, if I started scowling and looking like I lost an argument with a warp core, I might pass for him.”

Kally shook her head. "You're too hard on him," she said.

He leaned back in his chair, clearly pleased with himself, and then tilted his head thoughtfully. “Alright, Kally, enough sitting around. How about we crawl through the Jefferies tubes, see if we can find the ship’s sweet spot? Or—hear me out—we hit the Lounge and grab some synthol. You know, real big league ideas.”

He smirked. “I mean, you gotta admit, both sound better than pretending to finish that paperwork.”

Kally raised an eyebrow, both at the church-bell-sized brass ones the kid had and at how she had to interpret what he said. "What is the 'sweet spot' exactly? And I choose that because there is no way you are having synthol."

Finn’s grin widened, his excitement barely contained. “Oh, the sweet spot? Simple. We crawl through the Jefferies tubes and see if we can find it. Trust me, it’s worth the effort.”

He hopped off the chair, practically bouncing with energy. “No synthol? Fine, but crawling around in the guts of the ship is way cooler anyway. Plus, who doesn’t love a good tube adventure?”

He glanced back at her, his smirk turning playful. “Unless, of course, you’re worried about getting a little grease on your uniform.” as he motioned towards the exit.

"Well, as I so often say, 'wouldn't be the first time,'" Kally said, now thoroughly curious. She logged out for the day, shut down her terminal and left her office, once again following a cute boy to her doom. "Lead the way, milashka," she said, amused.

Finn grinned ear to ear as he hopped up and motioned for Kally to follow him out of Sickbay. “Alright, Kally, you asked for it. Let’s go!” he said, his voice full of excitement.

As they made their way through the corridors, Finn led her with a bounce in his step, occasionally glancing back to make sure she was still with him. “You know,” he said, grinning, “most people would’ve just gone for the Lounge. But not you. You’re bold—I like that.”

"'Bold', 'foolhardy,' to-may-to, to-mah-to," Kally said, following him. "Still not getting you synthehol."

When they reached the nearest Jefferies tube entrance, Finn stopped abruptly and raised a hand, his expression turning comically serious. He glanced around the corridor, his eyes darting back and forth like a spy checking for tails.

Kally looked back and forth as well, half playing along, half genuinely wondering if she was about to do something foolhardy.

“Alright,” he whispered conspiratorially, leaning closer to her, “we gotta be sneaky. This is highly classified... probably.”

"Understood," Kally said, her voice grave. "Remember, if we get caught, we say we've never met before and just ran into each other at a Jefferies tube convention." She grinned at him.

With a dramatic flourish, Finn pulled open the hatch and quickly climbed into the Jefferies tube. Once inside, he turned back and motioned for Kally to follow him, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “This is where the fun starts!” he said, his voice low but brimming with excitement.

"If I had a strip of latinum..." Kally said to herself, slipping in behind him and pulling the hatch behind her to reseal it. She crawled up to him and sat down in the tube next to him. "So," she said, grinning, "is this it? Or do we have to search it out?"

Finn led Kally through the Jefferies tubes with an energy that made it impossible not to be intrigued. "We're almost there," he said, his voice full of excitement. He stopped at a hatch, pausing to glance back at her with a grin before opening it. "This is the good part."

They climbed out into a larger vertical shaft, the ship’s hum vibrating faintly in the background. Finn glanced upward, his grin widening as he gestured for her to follow. “This spot’s halfway between the grav generator and the valve plate. Trust me, you’ll want to watch this.”

Grabbing the edges of the hatchway with both hands, Finn steadied himself, then gave a practiced push-off. Instantly, the reduced gravity took effect, and he began to rise slowly, his body floating effortlessly upward. He twisted slightly mid-air to control his ascent, showing off a level of confidence that made it clear he’d done this plenty of times before.

As he drifted toward the top of the shaft, Finn gave Kally a cheeky grin. "Told you this place was cool," he said, his voice carrying down to her.

Finally, reaching the upper section, Finn flipped himself gracefully, planting his feet on the ceiling before settling into a cross-legged position, completely upside down. He rested his hands on his knees like he was meditating, his grin widening. “And this is how it’s done. What do you think? Pretty sweet, huh?”

His hair floated slightly as he hung there, the surreal scene making the experience all the more impressive. Finn motioned for her to follow, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “Come on, give it a try! It’s easier than it looks—promise.”

Of all the things Kally imagined Finn was leading her to, this was not one of them, and the shock on her face made that evident. She pushed off from the hatchway as well and rose somewhat gracefully towards him. She attempted to turn, but didn't have the practiced ease and bounced slightly on the wall before 'landing' on her rump next to him, bouncing a bit. Her hair was flying around her and she brushed it out of her face quickly, composing herself before orienting herself in front of him, looking 'up' at the floor. "How have I not known about this, with all the engineers I've," she caught herself at the last second, "dated?"

Finn couldn't help but burst into laughter as Kally landed beside him, her hair floating around like a halo. "Well, that was... graceful!" he teased, clapping his hands slowly. "I'll give you a solid seven out of ten. Extra points for the dramatic entrance."

She looked at him and grinned. "Okay, you got me. This is absolutely cool."

He raised an eyebrow mischievously. "So, all those engineers you've... 'dated,' huh?" Finn made exaggerated air quotes with his fingers, a playful smirk on his face. "Sounds like you've got some stories there. Maybe they didn't tell you about this spot because they didn't want you floating away from them—literally!"

She stuck her tongue out at him, but resisted the impulse to swat at him and cause them both to bounce around.

Leaning back, he pretended to ponder. "Or maybe they just didn't know about it. Guess that means I'm officially the best tour guide on the ship. Who needs engineers when you've got me to show you the real secrets?"

"Don't knock engineers," Kally said. "They have their uses. Someone's gotta keep the gravity working in the rest of the ship."

He gestured grandly around the inverted space. "But seriously, how cool is this? Zero-G fun without needing a shuttle or holodeck. And no synthahol required!"

Finn shot her a sly look. "So, Kally, should I start scheduling your adventures now? Between all those dates, of course. Don't worry—I won't tell Axel. He might get jealous that I'm the one showing you the best spots on the ship."

He chuckled, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Just admit it: hanging out with me is way more fun than any boring engineer date."

Kally grinned. "It certainly has its charms, milashka," she said. "Although my sister might take umbrage with being called 'boring'." She gave him a wink and a nudge, sending them both floating a bit. "As for Axel," she said as they righted themselves, "well he'll have to learn to be as entertaining as you."

Finn grinned, clearly pleased with himself. “Well, if your sister’s not boring, then maybe she just didn’t have this in her bag of tricks,” he said, gesturing around the sweet spot. “No offense, but I’m pretty sure I’ve set the bar here.”

He laughed as her nudge sent them both floating. Finn steadied himself, flipping back into a cross-legged position on the ceiling with ease. “Axel? Being as entertaining as me? Yeah, good luck with that,” he said, shaking his head dramatically. “He’s got the scowl and the whole ‘serious pilot’ thing down, but fun? That’s my department.”

Finn gave her a sly look, his grin widening. “You should let me know if he ever tries. I’ll give him pointers. But, uh... don’t hold your breath. He’s more likely to run a holodeck sim about cargo maneuvers than find anything this cool.”

He leaned back slightly, still floating effortlessly. “Face it, Kally—you’re stuck with me as the reigning champ of entertainment. Think you can handle it?”

Kally grinned. "Absolutely," she said, grabbing him and giving him a big kiss on the cheek. "Stuck with each other, to the bitter end. And I am fully prepared to see every cool spot on the ship with your expert guidance."

Finn froze for a moment, his face turning bright red as Kally kissed his cheek. His usual quick wit was momentarily derailed, and he blinked at her, wide-eyed. “Uh… well… yeah, obviously!” he stammered, trying to regain his composure, though his grin betrayed how much he enjoyed the moment.

Kally smirked, happy to see his cockiness could be thrown off.

He quickly shook it off, leaning back with mock confidence. “Stuck with me, huh? Good call—you’ve officially partnered up with the coolest tour guide on this ship. Every hidden spot, every fun trick—I’ll show you everything. You won’t even need those boring engineers anymore.”

Finn crossed his arms, smirking as his usual swagger returned. “But, fair warning: if we’re doing this, I expect full credit for all the fun. And no taking Axel’s side if he gets grumpy about us having more fun than him.”

He tilted his head, giving her a cheeky look. “So, where to next, partner? Or should I pick another spot to blow your mind?”

Kally flipped over and kicked off the wall, gracefully tumbling back towards the entrance until she gripped the doorway. "Well, sadly, I have some place to be, and you should get home before Axel wonders where you've crawled off to. But, we should definitely make this a reoccurring thing. What do you say? Same time next week?"

Finn floated midair, watching Kally’s graceful exit with a grin. “Same time next week?” he repeated, leaning back with his arms crossed like he was weighing the offer. “You kidding? That’s a deal. You’re officially stuck with me now.”

He gave her a playful salute. “But don’t worry—I’ll have an even cooler spot lined up for next time. Just make sure you’re ready, Kally. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”

As she slipped out of the doorway, Finn added with a smirk, “And don’t worry about Axel. I’ll just tell him I was ‘helping out a friend.’ That always works... mostly.”

He turned back to float lazily against the wall, calling after her, “See you next week, partner!”

Kally smirked, already drafting a message to Axel in her head before tapping her combadge. "Computer, site-to-site transport to my quarters," she said, disappearing a moment later.