Third Watch

Posted on Wed Mar 22nd, 2023 @ 1:39am by Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Senior Chief Petty Officer Ronson Mitchell

Mission: Planet of the Dinosaurs
Location: USS Sunfire
Timeline: Early Morning Day 4

The men seemed to fawn over Kit. She understood the allure and all and sympathized. Perhaps she herself would be doing the same if she couldn't control herself, but she could. She controlled herself right out of the common room to her little crooked bedroom where she could see the setting sun.

There she stripped off her jacket and tossed it to the side before setting an alarm on her PADD and then promptly falling face first into the mattress. They had all busted ass. The fires were almost out and the ship was now generating power, albeit limited. They had fought off dinosaurs and crawled through hell itself but they had made things happen. Together.

She fell asleep just as the last light faded and as though no time had passed, was woken up by the sound of her alarm. She grumbled but she rolled over and stood up. She marveled at how over the past few days she had been less accident prone than normal. Perhaps the crooked nature of the floor was making a difference. Either way she was happy to have the gentle thrum of engine noise back. It was soothing in the least.

Yawning, she grabbed up her jacket and made her way to the common area for some coffee before relieving whomever had taken the first watch. It was probably Ronson or Tom. Without that coffee it didn't matter as they wouldn't be getting a replacement anytime soon with her in her current state.

Ronson was up and unable to sleep, and was currently sipping the rich coffee he had pilfered from the Captain’s private collection. He looked up as Bonnie walked in and handed her the cup he had prepared for her arrival in a thermal keep warm mug.

“ Rough sleep?” He asked, taking in her tired complexion. The words were of concern and not of judgment.

Even through heavy eyelids she managed to autonomically take the offered coffee as she stifled another yawn. "Almost felt like I had no sleep at all. Frankly I don't know how you or Orinoco bats manage to do it?" She said referring to bats that operated on two hour sleep cycles versus a 28 hour day.

“ I can’t say I manage well, but we’ll survive, and in the meantime, we have coffee” He smiled, trying to lighten the mood as much as possible.

In truth, there was so much rattling around inside her head that any one subject would bring her back to a reality she was still trying to come to terms with. There was nothing like death, especially the death of your last senior family member, to bring a person perspective.

Ronson had lapsed into a contemplative comfortable silence, before reading the expressions flickering across Bonnie’s face. In his job he dealt with a lot of people and could pick emotions fairly easily. “Who are you thinking about?” he asked gently, moving over to sit next to Bonnie but not intrude into her personal space.

She blinked, realizing she had been lost in the recesses of her own mind. "Oh, um, just, um, well…" she fumbled about before finally settling. "Just my dad, and my mom really. Death in general really. Amongst the hundreds of other things constantly on my mind." She covered by playfully brushing off the thoughts inside her head.

Never one to converse about her personal life, she was holding back from spilling her guts like she had done with Dean. Instead she kept her tone and conversation even keeled. "So, uh, how's the watch going? Any sign of trouble?"

"Nah, it's all quiet, too quiet really. Sometimes it gives you the space to think when you really don't want to" Ronson admitted, looking around the quiet space. "We've been through a lot and I'm not quite ready to deal with it all just yet" he admitted. Silence fell between them again before he felt the need to say something. "Tell me about your parents" his eyes staring out in front to not intimidate his companion.

Bonnie kept her nose in her coffee even as the blood ran from her face. “My, um, well, my Mom was an engineer on the Saratoga at Wolf 359. She was a good woman, good at her job I guess,” She stopped to question how much she was willing to spill before continuing. “I was like six when she died so, well afterwards it was just my papa and I.”

Memories flashed in her mind of the number of occurrences where they played together, read stories together and argued. She had to grow up and always felt like she was caring for her papa. She cooked and cleaned but more importantly she always worried about him, like her mother had.

"I'm sorry to hear that, you sound like you loved her very much" Ronson said quietly, allowing Bonnie to steer the conversation wherever she wanted to. He had the feeling she wanted, no probably needed to talk. "I miss my family" he said simply, not elaborating further so as to not make her more uncomfortable.

“Still do.” She said quietly correcting his tenses. “Tell me about your family, Ronson.” She was taking this opportunity to redirect the conversation away from herself. Besides, Ronson was always there, always working for others. Rarely had she ever seen him talk about himself or his family for that matter.

Ronson took a breath and stared into the middle distance, his eyes unfocussing as he recalled things past.

“My mother’s eyes were as blue as the clearest sky, and my father was like a window into someone’s soul - he could see what made them tick, how they were feeling, just with a look” Ronson started, smiling at a distant memory “Made it kinda hard to get away with stuff when you were a kid”

“Sounds like he may have been an empath. Are you sure you’re not part Betazoid?” She chuckled slightly, breaking the seriousness of the moment. “My papa was a bit like that too, though I think it was because he was over protective of me after we lost momma. There were times I felt like he didn’t give me a moment's peace, like I didn’t have the chance to learn or grow on my own. I know he meant well though. He always meant well.”

"Yet you still feel just a sliver of resentment for the childhood you never really had?" Ronson commented, casting a sideways glance towards Bonnie. "It's hard when you lose a parent at a young age, it's like the purity of youth gets yanked out from under your feet and you have to grow up in an instant"

“Did that, did that happen to you Ronnie?” She said with an innocent nickname to put them both on the same level. “I had no idea, really. I’m so sorry.” She offered, now feeling guilty that her pain had now dredged up a similar feeling in another. In reality it was possible both his parents were living and he was just trying to better understand her situation. The Federation had seen a lot of deaths in the past few years.

" My parents split when I was very young, the stress of being in Starfleet doesn't sit well with everyone and something had to give. They were both so dedicated to the cause they forgot to be dedicated to each other." Ronson admitted. He'd never spoken about his family to anyone, not even the Captain. "I grew up ss a bit of a loner, never really belonging anywhere till I ended up on the Sunfire"

She felt similar, but not fully. She grinned, “My papa would say my place was at home with him, learning the history of our galaxy. He was always on and on about history and how we never learn from it properly. But, he also knew I had my mother inside me and wouldn’t sit still forever. I think I nearly broke his heart when I told him I wanted to return to work.”

“ I can understand that, after the loss of a partner, having a child choose to be elsewhere would be hard. But that doesn’t make it right for you to stay with him forever. You are your own person Bonnie Durnell, and don’t let anyone try to think otherwise” Ronson said firmly, setting his shoulders and raising his chin as though preparing to defend his friend against unseen foes.

She let out a giggle as he struck a pose, then shook her head. “Don’t ever change Ronnie Mitchell. You are one in a googleplex, you are.” She finished off her cup of coffee. She didn’t have to tell Ronson about her dad’s passing. She would do that when she was ready.

Instead she pointed at the door, “Thanks for the coffee and the conversation. I best get to gettin, and you should get what sleep you can. The next few days are going to be more of the same.” There was an apologetic look on her face as a small part of herself still felt guilty, like the crash was still somehow her fault.

“More of the same, but moving yet ever closer to getting off this rock and getting back where we belong. Until of course the next crisis of course kicks us off track and sends us careening into goodness knows where” He shrugged and smiled “Thanks for the chat Bonnie, and the coffee. Anytime you need an ear, you know where to find me” He offered as they moved to go their separate ways.

“Anytime.” She responded simply before heading out of the common area and into the darkness of the corridors. There was much to do and the crew was counting on her to be their eyes and ears in the dark. Tonight she was that character Dean had mentioned, the Batdude or whatever. Thinking of Dean made Bonnie smile once more and helped her get through her watch with hope on her mind.

OFF