TSCOSI Week Day 3: Sana / Leadership
A/N: ssshhhhhhh yes I know it’s late but ssssshhhhh let’s just pretend I’m posting this 5/6 days ago
Here, finally, is my fic for Day 3 of TSCOSI Week, on the theme of Sana / Leadership! This takes place in an ambiguous point in Late Season 2. It does not have any bearing on the episode that was released today, which I haven’t even listened to yet, because I was busy trying to finish off this fic 😂😭 Energy and motivation have not been on my side lately. But here we are!
I had two ideas I could have gone with for this day’s prompt, and of course I chose the one I knew would lead to a longer fic, but it was worth it. This type of TSCOSI fic is my favourite to write - pure Rumor/Iris crew fluff and shenanigans. So enjoy!
The first clue Sana had that something was amiss was when she woke up.
Rather than waking to the vibration of her comm against her ear (yes, her comm had an alarm function and yes, she slept with it in in case of emergencies. She would not be taking questions at this time), she came to naturally, which she hadn’t done in months. Sana smiled to herself, stretching – and then froze.
She never woke up naturally, and the few times that she did wake during the night she didn’t feel this pleasantly well-rested. What time was it?
“Computer?” Sana spoke aloud to ELLA. “Current on-ship time?”
“The current on-ship time – is – nine – forty-three AM,” ELLA’s voice intoned. Sana sat bolt upright in her bed.
That wasn’t right. There was no way she’d slept through her alarm, and she had it set to recur at the same time every morning. Which meant…
“Sana Tripathi to all crew,” Sana said, opening up a comm line to all of her crewmates’ devices. “Hey, guys. Would someone mind telling me why my alarm didn’t go off this morning?”
“It didn’t go off because I deprogrammed it when I poured you into bed last night at some ungodly hour,” came the reply in Arkady’s deadpan tones, and Sana cringed slightly, regretting opening up a line to the whole crew. “Also, I’ve said this before, but sleeping with your comm in your ear? Pretty unhealthy, and that’s coming from me.”
“Thank you for that feedback, Arkady,” said Sana, with all the dry sarcasm she could muster.
“Prolonged comm usage, even when the comm is idle, has also been known to lead to hearing damage in a small percentage of cases,” put in RJ, and Sana’s eyebrows rose. “Something to do with a low level of uh, high-frequency feedback? So as a best practice, you should really take it out before bed.”
“RJ, are you lecturing me right now?” Sana asked, halfway between deeply amused and indignant.
“Uhhhh- n-no Ma’am! I mean, uh- no, Captain.”
“They’re right, you know,” Violet put in next. “I mean, it really is a small percentage of cases, but as your medic I have to advise you not to leave your comm device in for prolonged periods. Also, that sounds – uncomfortable? For sleeping?”
Sana sighed, resigning herself to being ganged up on by her entire crew. “Duly noted, Violet. Getting back to the subject at hand-”
“Wow, human ears are so fragile!” This, of course, was Krejjh. “They can really be damaged by comm feedback?”
“For a prolonged enough period-” RJ began to explain.
“We don’t all have your ‘superior alien senses’, dude,” put in Brian, laughing. Sana put a hand to her head.
“I deprogrammed your alarm because you need a break, Captain,” Arkady cut in, almost gently. “Don’t think we didn’t notice that you’ve been pulling extra shifts so that the rest of us could take breaks, while not taking any yourself.”
“The human body is at its best when given time to rest and recover,” Violet added, also gently. “And you’re human too, Captain.”
Sana could feel her face flaming, but she was also extremely touched by the concern the crew were showing her – even though they’d apparently ganged up on her in the process.
“All right, I can admit that the lie-in was appreciated,” she said. “Thank you for the thought, everyone. Krejjh, I’m coming to relieve you in-”
“Oh, no need, Cap’n,” Krejjh interrupted cheerfully. “Crewman Park is taking your shift! He’s relieving me in ten minutes, and then Crewman Jeeter and I are going to play cards.”
“That’s really not necessary,” Sana said, beginning to feel slightly alarmed. “Park, I’m coming up to the cockpit in-”
“Sorry, Captain, but I think you’ve been outnumbered,” Park said, as mildly as ever. “Also, Krejjh promised me fruit jerky in exchange for taking the next shift, and I’m not about to give that up.”
Sana stared at the wall, running a hand over her face. “Park, you hate fruit jerky.”
“This is special fruit jerky,” Park replied, deadly serious. “The really good kind. Enjoy your time off.”
“There must be something I can do,” said Sana, realising she sounded slightly desperate.
“Uh, you can join me and Krejjh for a game of cards in ten minutes?” Brian suggested.
“Or you can relax, Captain,” Violet said, still in that gently amused tone. “It’s for one day. We promise you’ll be back to keeping us all in line tomorrow.”
The whole day?! Sana exclaimed internally. And okay, maybe the way that she balked at the idea of a day of enforced rest said something about the habits she’d fallen into.
She could at least give it a try. The crew had obviously put some thought into this – and it didn’t seem like they were backing down any time soon.
“Maybe I could use a breather,” she admitted aloud, and pretended not to hear someone’s sigh of relief over the comms. “But if any of you need anything…”
“We’ll let you know, Captain,” Arkady promised her, sounding not in the slightest bit sincere. Sana sighed.
“Okay. Sana Tripathi out.”
Or maybe by the afternoon her crewmates would let up, and she could go back to doing something useful.
