"I hate to be 'that guy' but I've glued myself to the ceiling again..." -- Gallifreya
There is a place for everyone in the UFTP stellar fleet! All volunteers for the stellar services are tested for their strengths and places where they can perform at their best! Join today! -- UFTP Stellar Fleet recruitment flier.
Second Technician Kevin Maladroit checked the maintenence schedule before he got out of bed. Slow day. Which meant it was a bad one. The crew of the Numbat had their own, unique ways of dealing with slow days. Ways that meant that he would very soon be picking up the mess.
The crew of the Numbat made their own entertainment when they were bored. And when they played, as an ancient song said, they tend to leave a trail a mile wide. And then they left it for people like Kevin to clean up, despite the fact that he and others like him were not invited to join the festivities.
Kevin was deep in the maintenance tubes when a rhythmic thumping indicated that Davries had turned on their music. Kevin sighed and got on with his work. Sooner started, sooner--
His comms rang. Kevin picked up the call with a simple, "Yo. What up?"
"Did I pocket-dial someone? Great! Don't hang up. Please don't hang up?"
It was the 'please' that got him. So very few people ever used it when asking him to do things. "I'm listening," he said.
"Uhm. Yeah. This is a bit embarrassing? I hate to be 'that guy'... but I've glued myself to the ceiling again..."
Kevin was dumbstruck. How in the living hell could anyone possibly...?
"Are you still there?"
"Yeah," he said. "How the heck--?"
"It's a long story. And a complete accident, this time, I swear."
Which implied that there were other times when it wasn't an accident. Kevin quietly boggled to himself as he completed his allotted work. "I can be there in five, tops. Where are you?"
The luckless crewmate gave their location and the keycode to the door. Not a problem to get to, even if the conga line had started up again. People tended to be glad when he turned up sooner than his generic ETA.
"Right. Be with you soon. Hang in there."
Peals of laughter. "Yeah, I'll definitely stick around."
Kevin had a few rare giggles for them. There was so little to laugh about on this ship. "And I'll adhere to protocol."
They swapped glue-related puns for three minutes before Kevin got to their room to free them. And that was how he found love in the worst ship in the Galactic Alliance.
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