See PO and CPO Fiddle and Prattle over Fiddle Faddle

Posted on Sat May 24th, 2025 @ 9:49pm by Chief Petty Officer Chloe Delacroix & Petty Officer, 2nd Class Ozias Nikolaidis

1,593 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: ARYL 1X01: Bound for Cold Frontier
Location: Mess Hall

Cid wasn't ambidextrous, per se, but her left hand was very capable of operating independantly of her right when the situation called for it. Most often, when food was involved.

At the moment, her left hand was transporting small clusters of amber-colored grain puffs and small brown legumes to her mouth, while her right hand was fiddling with what appeared to be a coaster. She was staring intently at it and didn't realize someone was standing near her until a shadow moved over the object of her attention.

She looked up in surprise and smiled, quickly putting the coaster down. "Hi!" she said, cheerily.

'Hello,' Ozias replied in a soft friendly tone. 'Sorry to interrupt - I know it's late, but I came down here for some food and I saw you. Uhm, saw you fidgeting with that thing,' he said quickly, motioning to the coaster Cid was messing around with, 'and saw your engineering overalls and ...'

'Wait. Hang on. Let's back it up,' he said, running a hand through his hair, and removing his glasses to wipe a hand over his face. 'Sorry, my book reader broke. I actually came down for some food, but spotted you and your get-up and wondered if you might be able to fix it for me? I'm working on a paper, and I know there are others book readers aboard but ... it's my favourite?'

Cid quickly tucked her project into her coverall pouch and nodded eagerly. "Absolutely!" she said, holding her hand out for it.

He flashed a quizzical smile, but opted not to press a superior. Fishing his book reader out of his customary satchel, he handed it over, holding on to it for a little longer than was polite before relenting and allowing her to take his device. Ozias' smile turned slightly apologetic.

"Have a seat, this shouldn't take long," she said. "Oh! And 'Snack of the Day' today is some kind of toffee-popcorn-peanut combination. They called it "fiddle faddle" I think. It's awesome! Try some." She slid the bowl over with her left hand while her right hand pulled a tool from her belt. She twirled it like a gunslinger and began unsealing the casing.

'Fiddle faddle, eh?' Ozias echoed, looking at the bowl, then Cid, dubiously. He picked up a decent piece of the fiddle faddle and popped it into his mouth, leaning back and chewing delicately. His face lit up. 'Well ... this is just delicious,' he said, remembering his hunger. 'Probably the best damned thing I've tasted since joining.'

"Last week they had some good stuff," Cid said idly as she pulled out some finer tools and began poking at the circuitry. "But this stuff is definitely a treat. You should probably grab us another bowl for when we go through it." She didn't look up as she reached over and took another bunch, popping it in her mouth, tracing a circuit path along a board.

Raising his eyebrows slightly, Ozias got to his feet, and went to collect another bowl as the other woman worked on the circuit board. Coming back to the table, he popped himself lightly back into his seat, and smiled, 'one more bowl,' he said, helping himself. 'I'm Ozias, one of the ship's scientists. I don't have the pleasure of your name?'

"Oh yeah, introductory protocols. Sorry. I forgot," she said, apologetically. She put her tool down and held out her hand. "Chloe Illaria Delacroix. But you can call me Cid, it's easier. Good to meet you, Oz!" she said, smiling.

'That's quite the name,' Ozias replied with his own widening smile. 'I'm glad you shorten it to Cid.' He looked at the tool, then to her, 'and not to state the obvious,' he prompted, 'but you're one of the ship's Engineers?'

"Repair tech," Cid said, returning her attention to his device. "I mean, technically yeah, I'm an engineer. I tinker and putter and I love building new things. I pretty much grew up in the Utopia Planitia yard and that was heaven. An endless supply of parts to patch up, rework, play with. I'm generally happiest when I have something to do with my hands. What do you do?"

'Well, I'm a historian, by training. Dusty archives and interviewing subjects is about as much fieldwork as I can expect,' Ozias chuckled. 'I got this crazy notion a year ago that I didn't just want to moulder away in a university for the rest of my life, so I ... signed up, went through the non-com academy, and was assigned here.' He grinned excitedly, 'my first tour.' He looked at her for a moment then asked, 'what do you like building, exactly?'

Cid shrugged. "Oh, most anything, really. We had a guest lecturer tour a few months back before I left the Yard, and he said I had 'a giftie for seein' designs.' I took that as a compliment." She smiled up at Oz for a moment before looking back at her work. "I like building most anything. A new tubolift design, better anti-gravity boots, a new life-support belt, a smaller tricorder, a more even pancake griddle, a jet pack. Whatever pops into my head at the time. I usually have a dozen or so projects going on at once. They don't always work at first, but I learn something every time."

She pushed the frame of the reader together and there was a satisfying "click" as the pieces locked together. She activated the power source and the screen lit up, clear and bright. She grinned wide and looked up triumphantly. "But there's nothing better than fixing something back to new condition," she said. "And here you go!" She slid it over the table to him.

'Thank you,' Ozias replied, eagerly picking up the device and turning it round in his hands, inspecting every inch of it's turquoise and grey surface. He thumbed the activation button, 'yeah, wow,' he expressed, looking at the print begin to fill in the screen, 'this looks just good as new.' He ran a hand through his tufty hair. 'Man, I don't know how to thank you properly.'

Cid shrugged her shoulders and grinned. "My pleasure. Was a fun little repair. If you have any other broke stuff, find me any time. I'll probably be crawling around the tubes, hoping the Chief Engineer doesn't catch me again."

'Chief Engineer not a fan of you roaming the tubes?' Ozias asked with a chuckle, 'being able to avoid the management and being able to do the work you love is a valuable skill.'

Cid shrugged again. "Yeah, apparently I scare her," she said. "And so far I've managed to annoy two members of the senior staff. I guess I haven't quite acclimated to life on a starship."

Shrugging in return, Ozias leaned forward, and tapped the tabletop, 'your superiors have to acclimate to you too, you know. Starfleet is full of oddballs and goofballs - look at me. I wrote my thesis on Orthodox Christian icons in the mid-twenty-second century. Besides the Non-com Academy, I don't belong in space. Not really. So I can do my best, and they can adapt some things to suit my work and my research. They can do the same for you.'

Cid blinked, the thought of her superiors adjusting to her having never occurred to her. "I hadn't considered that," she said, then lit up with a smile. "Well, at least they'll have to adjust to me doing a good job," she said. "Thanks, Oz."

'You're entirely welcome Cid,' Ozias replied with an easy smile. The younger - but higher ranked! - petty officer was charming in her own quirky way, and made Ozias feel like much less of an outsider aboard this naval vessel. Running a hand through his hair nervously, he feigned casualness. 'Look,' he began, 'I haven't actually met anyone aboard who I could call a friend. Would you have an interest in meeting off-duty occasionally?'

Cid lit up like a Christmas tree. "Sure!" she said, grinning ear-to-ear. "That'd be awesome! Course, you may have to find me inside the tubes, but it'd be fun giving you a tour!" She took another mouthful of fiddle faddle and crunched happily.

'I - sure of course,' Ozias replied with a wide smile, but wondering how much time exactly Cid spent in the jeffries tubes of the ship. 'And look, not to be rude, but I do have some work to get back to, if you don't mind? Catch you later? I'll bring whatever the snack of the day is with me.'

"Mm hm!" Cid nodded around a mouthful before swallowing. "No problem! I should get back to my work too. Good meeting you, Oz!" Cid said, waving.

Getting to his feet, Ozias threw a wave in her direction as he saw her paw at her coveralls. Briefly, he wondered what it was she was working on, before booting up his newly-repaired book reader and burying himself in its contents. It's better than new, he marveled.

As he walked away, Cid reached back into her coveralls and pulled out the small disk she'd been working on, her focus back to it, everything around her fading away.

::OFF::

2PO Ozias Nikolaidis
'Science' Officer
USS Ark Royal
[PNPC Lieutenant Megosho Gehente]

CPO Chloe Delacroix
Damage Control Specialist
USS Ark Royal
[PNPC Lt Commander David Erickson]

 

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