192: Adjustments

By Avery Breaux and Zanh Liis
80305.11
After At the Stars

-=The Afterthought Cafe=-

"Mr. Breaux, please," Zanh Liis said, waving her hand to dismiss Avery from the rigid position he had adopted, rising to stand as she approached.

"Keep your seat. I haven't even had my first cup of coffee yet, no need for formality. I really apologize for interrupting your breakfast," Zanh slid into the tiny booth by the window that Avery was occupying at the Afterthought, and observed a small, powdery confection on a plate next to his cup of coffee.

"Hmm. That looks good. What is it?"

"It's a beignet," Avery replied, pushing the plate toward her. "A little taste of home...it's our mutated donut...lot of twisted things down in bayou country, you know."

Zanh's responsive smile was mischievous. "Sounds like I would fit right in down on the bayou."

A very annoyed and impatient looking Fleur Le Marc now stood next to the table..

"Ah, it is la Capitaine. What a pleasure to see you all the way down here." Fleur suppressed a sarcastic eye-roll, but her sentiment was still evident. It surprised Avery a little- it was so unlike the attitude that he was used to seeing Fleur display. "What can I get for you?"

"A pot of coffee, lots of cream, and some of those, please." She gestured to Avery's beignets as she nudged the plate he'd offered back toward him. "I may have to interrupt your breakfast, but I don't have to steal it, too."

Breaux laughed, and Fleur nodded and disappeared.

"Maybe I should ask you to taste my coffee before I drink it," Zanh whispered, leaning in over the table. "She likes you. If it's poisoned, she'll stop you."

Avery shook his head. "I don't get it. She's so. . ."

"Friendly to everyone else? Yes, she is." the Bajoran tapped her toe against the floor a couple of times, clenching her hands into fists beneath the table. "Very friendly. Anyway,"

She stopped speaking abruptly as Fleur set the carafe of coffee and the cream down, and then added a clean cup and the plate of beignets. Without waiting for any thanks, Le Marc turned and disappeared into the kitchen.

Breaux watched the exchange, or lack thereof.

"Thank you." Zanh called, offering an overly friendly wave to the swinging galley doors. She allowed herself just the smallest of frustrated sighs. "It's the sunny service that keeps me coming back for more." She declared, saluting Avery with her empty cup.

"So, Captain," Avery was curious what had brought her to see him to begin with. "Is there something that I can do for you?"

"You've been holding out on me, Mr. B." She offered him the PADD she'd brought with her. "It seems congratulations are in order. I suppose I will have to start calling you "doctor" now?"

Zanh filled her cup from the carafe as she waited quietly for him to absorb the information. She glanced up, watching his expression change.

He'd passed his final exams.

He was a doctor.

"Good gods." His eyes actually began to well up, a reaction he did his best to fight off.

Zanh's brows knit together, and she paused with her coffee cup raised halfway to her lips. She set it back down and regarded the emotion written across Breaux's pleasingly sculpted features.

"Hey, now, not fair. That's not the reaction I was prepared for." She found herself becoming unexpectedly misty as well, and she blinked several times in an attempt to dismiss the moisture. *Getting sentimental in your old age, Zanh Liis,* she thought.

"I expected some shouting, perhaps the joyful dancing that Humans seem to be so fond of at moments like this. . ."

He just stared. "I just, don't believe it. You have to understand, it 's been a long time...so many obstacles..." Breaux wasn't sure how to convey his past or even if he wanted to..."This is magnificent. Just so hard to believe."

"Believe it. You have much to be proud of, and to celebrate. I'm currently working on a plan for said celebration, by the by, and I warn you, there is no escape. Attendance is mandatory, captain's orders." She put her hand to her mouth conspiratorially. "I hear she's an insufferable bit. . ." Zanh laughed softly, allowing her remark to linger, unfinished.

Avery continued staring at his name and the test results on the PADD.

"There is something more." Zanh continued. "Your good news leaves me with a bit of a predicament and I hope you can help me resolve it."

Avery tried to focus on what she was saying, and nodded. "Of course, if I can."

"I have an opening for a medical officer, and as per our agreement when you explained your aspirations to me right after you boarded, it is yours, if you want it." Zanh paused, her fingers running lightly around the saucer beneath her cup. "But before you hang your shingle, I want you to know there is another job I was about to offer you. So that you're aware of all your options, Lieutenant Commander, before you make your final decision."

Breaux was sure that he reacted to the mention of rank, and he allowed a slight smile to show...being a bit of a salt he wasn't about to over-react...he was appreciative and he would make that known.

"Lair Kellyn came to me before the Alchemy left to survey 626. She told me that she was convinced that she was meant to return to her work of research and development. She meant to give up the CEO spot. After giving her time to consider this carefully, she told me that her decision stands. I need a new Chief Engineer. I want it to be you."

"Captain, I would be delighted...I really do appreciate it...I mean that sincerely...and my medical pursuits have been with me for ages, it's an accomplishment that will benefit us all I'm sure, certainly a secondary role as we have an accomplished doctor on board...I'm more than glad to take on the Chief Engineer role. Thank you, sir."

Breaux was contemplating all that was before him...Lair's condition...the business with Barbary Coast and Angela Nolan...a promotion and clearing his medicals...he kept an even keel, "Again, thank you."

"Thank you." Liis nodded, and finally sampled one of the beignets. "Mmmm," she wiggled her eyebrows, but Breaux seemed too distracted to comment on her opinion of the pastry. "Mr Breaux, where have you gone? I need your attention for just a moment longer."

He returned to the present, his large eyes refocusing upon her as Zanh's expression took on a more serious hue.

"I want you to know that this job is not a consolation prize, and that you have never been my second choice. I always expected that Lair would move back into research, and from the moment you came aboard I have watched you. You have shown yourself to be not only fit as an engineer, but a leader that everyone looks to in times of trouble. Danger told me how you pulled everyone together after Kellyn was hurt. On top of doing what you did to save her life, you did your job. Well. That's something that I want to personally thank you for, and I know that Lair will too, soon as she's up and around."

Breaux nodded, "I can understand how Kellyn would be qualified for a number of special assignments and I certainly understand how this falls into place..."

"Well, she and Poin. . ." She stopped, finding herself somehow slipping into the casual use of Reece's less than respectful nickname for their ship's first officer. Just the corner of her lip curled upward, as Breaux's did the same. He was too quick; he knew exactly what she had started to say.

"Commander Salvek," She stressed his name, clearing her throat halfway through, ". . .and Lair Kellyn designed the Alchemy, and so it makes sense that she would be the one to continue his research now that Salvek has moved on to a permanent command position. I hate to tell you this but she's going to be more in your. . .hair. . .?"

She observed the lack thereof on Breaux's closely-cut head and shrugged.

". . .than she's ever been. She'll be trying to reroute your systems and new and improve everything. The biggest challenge for you is going to be knowing when she needs to back off, and telling her so. Or telling me so. Or both. But I know that you're up to the challenge."

Zanh felt badly that she'd been doing most of the talking during this informal breakfast meeting, but she had so much she wanted to convey to the man before he officially joined her senior staff that she felt she had to see it through at this point. She looked him straight in the eye as she spoke again.

"It's very important to me, Avery, that every member of our crew understands how vital they are to the intricate inner machine that is this, this, " She opened her arms wide and gestured to all around her.

"This thing, that Starfleet has given us. It's a living, breathing, growing entity with a will and mind of its own. It takes special people to make sure that it doesn't get away from us," Zanh extended her hand toward Breaux across the table, and he clasped hers tightly and shook once, firmly. She returned the shake with equal enthusiasm. "You are definitely one of those special people. I can't tell you how proud I am to serve with you."

"The feeling is mutual, sir."

Deciding she'd made the poor man suffer enough of her company for one morning, Zanh took the napkin from her lap, folded it neatly and set it onto her plate, which by this point only held a light dusting of confectioner's sugar, left behind like snow in miniature mountains.

"One final thing," she said, as she finished her last swig of coffee and rose to leave. "I'm going to make Dengar your Assistant Chief. He's a bright kid, and what's more, he has an ace up his sleeve that specifically suits him to be your right hand. That being, he has been working on the Alchemy since before she was even assigned to the Sera. I know he'll be indispensable to you."

She smiled gently at the thought of Rada,"Danger" Dengar, and wondered how he'd take the news of his imminent promotion. "Even if sometimes, he's not sure that he will be."

Breaux smiled widely, "Rada is a good man-I'm pleased to hear it."

-------------------------------------
Lt. Commander Avery Breaux
Chief Engineer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012


and

-=/\=- Captain Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012