[ Personal Log ]: A Hallowe'en peace offering

[dreams_dont_die]

This thing with Harper isn't going away.

Dylan's relationship with Harper has never been this strained for this long. They've had disagreements. Harper can be a handful, and it can take a firm, sometimes very firm, hand to draw him into line. It had been hard, at first, learning how to command each of the members of his new crew. Each of them needs something different, and Harper ... needs somewhere to belong. And, occasionally, to be reminded what is and isn't appropriate and acceptable for the crew that's trying to restore the Commonwealth.

Until now, it's always blown over with time. Even when Dylan's failings were worse than just not being sure how best to combine support and discipline with Harper. There have been times when he's failed him on a much deeper level than that. Like over Earth.

Still, it's never been like this. Harper's been snappy and unpleasant for weeks, and it's untenable. He needs his engineer.

Besides, if this was about trust and mistrust and Harper's behavior, what he's learned from Captain Rogers goes a long way towards addressing that.

This would be better were it not for the bright blue hair and the historic naval uniform, but it's gone on too long already, and he's worked out his strategy, which is why he has one of his bracers tucked into his belt as he strides down the corridor towards Harper's room.

When Harper answers the door, he'll be greeted by his captain with a terse expression on his face and a warning finger raised to forestall Harper's commentary.

"Not. A. Word. About the hair."

Comments

[deus_ex_harper]

Harper was not expecting Dylan at the door. Certainly not dressed like he was from... well it was better not go to wandering too far down the path of how Harper recognized that sort of uniform. If the hair was off limits then Dylan should have also mentioned the uniform. That was... wandering back towards dangerous territory again.

The engineer opened his mouth and then closed it again with a shake of his head, which had very blonde hair, bleached blonde and bright even for him but it wasn't blue. He wasn't sure if it was better that most of it couldn't be seen because of what he had found himself dressed in. Harper may have looked like a tiger but if you had any idea about Earth history this was not just a tiger it was Tigger. He decided to let the idea of mocking Dylan's outfit go very quickly.

The expression and the warning finger weren't quite enough to stop him but given what he was wearing that was. That and there was still candy to stash away. He looked back into the room, turning so it showed that his costume even had a tail though it wasn't obvious that the contents of the closet were now scattered to the four corners of the room and there were boxes of candy stacked neatly inside instead. If he couldn't get the beer he liked and there was still a distinct lack of sparky then he had to make do.

"So... what brings you here then?"

[dreams_dont_die]

Harper hasn't escaped the costume or, it appears, the effects of the candied fruit that had turned Dylan's hair blue. Bright blond is a less ridiculous color than the shade of blue Dylan's hair has gone, but he'd have to admit Harper's costume is the worse of the two. Harper is a tiger. With a tail.

Because Harper hasn't commented on Dylan's appearance, he returns that particular favor. He wouldn't have been surprised if Harper had made some sort of comment about the costume, or ignored the warning about the hair, so that consideration deserves to be returned.

Much in the way of manners is apparently still more than Harper's willing to show, but ... Dylan had known that was a possibility, even a likelihood, when he decided to come here. But he's Harper's Captain, aboard the Andromeda Ascendant or aboard the Enterprise. And that means it's down to him to resolve this. Regardless of Harper's attitude.

"I want to talk to you," he says, his tone mild. "I thought we could go for a drink."

[deus_ex_harper]

Harper would argue it was cute and he'd be trying to see if it was any use at all in making any progress with any of the women he'd met aboard the Enterprise. Which it probably would lead to more set backs.

"Okay." He frowned, slightly worried at the implications of it all. Was he in more trouble, but Dylan was too calm for that. He couldn't be worried about the amount of candy the engineer had stashed. "C'mon boss, you know I don't like you like that." He moved from blocking the door and let it shut behind him. He did pay attention to not getting his tail trapped. "You're still buying right?"

[dreams_dont_die]

Dylan lifts his eyebrows, resisting the urge to either glare or roll his eyes at Harper. He just shakes his head instead. Trust Harper to try to make this more difficult than it has to be, without even knowing what's going on. That's Harper.

Of course, if this were going to be easy, Dylan wouldn't need a plan. It would have been resolved by now.

"Don't worry, Harper," he says, as the door shuts. "You're not my type."

On the Andromeda, he'd stop by the machine shop or find wherever Harper was working and settle himself down on the floor by the engineer for a quiet conversation, tall body and long legs hunched into too-small spaces; that's happened enough times that it's almost familiar, companionable for the two of them.

It's not so easy here, where he's not the captain. It's not a matter of a simple 'walk with me' or knowing what Andromeda needs and therefore where Harper will be.

So, it has to be a drink, which is far less subtle than Dylan would prefer, but it will have to do.

"Just a drink and a talk. And yes. I'm buying."

For what that's worth here, where the drinks are free.

[deus_ex_harper]

"I'm hurt, boss, hurt." He probably could have pulled off the expression and the fake hurt a lot better if he hadn't been dressed as he was. Or if it had been anyone but those who knew him too well and Dylan fell firmly into that category.

He looked up at Dylan and wished he was back in the familiar machine shop or one of the many ducts, conduits or access tunnels that made up the places he knew best on Andromeda. When Dylan came to then it was on Harper's terms. This felt more like it was on Dylan's or neutral. Which didn't feel right.

"We can talk." He could be civil. Ish. The fact that he was dressed as Tigger took a lot away from the more usual cocky behavior.

[dreams_dont_die]

"Deal with it, Harper."

Dylan's voice is more amused than annoyed, though; if Harper's teasing him instead of taking snide shots at him, that's a start. The two of them have been through far too much to let one disagreement stand between them for long. Harper's solved the unsolvable and Dylan's fought them out of danger more times than he could easily enumerate.

That's what a captain and his crew do. Still, it's a relief to hear Harper outright say they can talk. There hasn't been much evidence of that lately.

"Come on," he says. "Walk with me."

[deus_ex_harper]

Harper can't help but laugh. He may not want to right then but he does. He laughs. Which is a start.

"You ate the candy huh." He is trying to say something as they walk and he is mentioning the hair but not mocking outright. "Did your outfit not come with a hat?" It wasn't meant to be the wrong thing to say it was just Harper being curious and Dylan with the blue hair was just not right.

[dreams_dont_die]

"I ate the candy."

It's not as though he'd had all that much choice, at first. He may not have wanted candy, but he'd had to eat something. Especially after Alemar III. He hadn't been keen to spend any more time in the sickbay with Trance fussing over his nutrient intake. Candy wasn't about to help with the nutrients, but it was something to eat until he found proper food. Which turned out to be not as easy as he'd hoped.

Dylan gives Harper a sidelong look, eyes narrowing.

"That was very close to a word about the hair. But I prefer the hair to the hat."

[deus_ex_harper]

"Well I can see how it's close to the hair. Since hats generally cover up hair. Given their purpose in life." Sadly none of this was actually sarcastic. He was just talking and well talking. "And an outfit like that they tend to have hats to go along with them. For however long they're actually worn." Now he was straying close to why he knew about these outfits.

Harper realised this information might not be appreciated by someone like Dylan. He waved a paw and shrugged in a way that made it look like he might actually bounce like Tigger would. "So boss, what did you want to talk about?" He isn't sure this is a safer topic to move onto.

[dreams_dont_die]

Dylan watches Harper from the corner of narrowed eyes, annoyed little lines creasing the middle of his forehead. It does have a hat, but the hat, in Dylan's opinion, only makes the overblown tail coat look even more ridiculous, which it's already doing a more than adequate job of on its own, with all the gold on it. He's never been a man to stand on ceremony, and even less to revel in pomp; he far prefers the simple, understated uniforms of the High Guard to this.

It even makes the mess dress look good, and that's always been his least favorite uniform.

(He's fairly sure he doesn't want to know what Harper's thinking about the uniform he's wearing.)

Dylan's expression softens and becomes more amiable as they walk.

"I wanted to ask you to do something for me."

Some captains might take that as an opportunity, after what's been happening lately when he tries to talk to Harper, to point out that he is still Harper's captain, even here.

That's never been a strategy that works particularly well with his current crew, so he lets it be.

[deus_ex_harper]

(No one wants to know what Harper is thinking most of the time.)

That get's Harper's attention. He's can forget about everything else, he's curious what Dylan wants him to do. Usually it would mean making something or doing something. Hopefully making, because he missed that. He missed the machine shop. All he was making around the Enterprise then was a mess.

"Sure boss, what is it?"

It had to have got his attention because there were no smart remarks back.

[dreams_dont_die]

Dylan does a good job of hiding the fact that he's pleased to have struck on a way to speak amiably with Harper, after weeks. Bringing Harper a task to do as a distraction or, as this is, as a peace offering, is a fairly reliable way to get Harper's interest if nothing else.

Harper had asked him, in a manner like that of a sulky child, what Dylan would prefer him to be doing instead of getting in trouble, and Dylan hadn't had a good answer for him. Now, at least he has something to suggest.

It's actually more for the sake of giving Harper something to do than because it's something Dylan needs, but those are equally important considerations, at the moment. He has to keep his crew together here, and he has to look out for them.

He's still their captain.

"Have you seen the holodecks here?"

[deus_ex_harper]

"I know about them, I haven't actually had chance to go check them out properly." He wanted to though. Harper wanted to see if he could go surfing. If they were going to visit rocks that were all caves and inhospitable then he was going to have to explore a different way of doing something he loved that wasn't going to end up with Dylan having to come fetch him from the brig.

"I bet they have all sorts of programs." He smirked. "If not nothing that the Harper charm can't convince to work a little differently." He looked up at Dylan. "Or I could ask before doing that. Asking. Right, boss?"

[dreams_dont_die]

Dylan gives a faint smile, because as annoying as Harper can be sometimes -- particularly lately -- he's often pretty good at catching on at what his captain's looking for out of him. This time, Harper's managed to guess it almost exactly, without much prompting from Dylan.

Even better, the idea has his attention.

That isn't difficult to work out, not when Harper's self-satisfied smile appears. Not when he's already lining himself up to make things work his way.

"Asking would be good. But actually, using a little of the Harper charm on them was exactly what I had in mind. They have a lot of things pre-programmed into them, but not what I want."

He lifts his eyebrows at Harper.

"Think you can check if it's all right and try programming something for me?"

[deus_ex_harper]

Harper at first gives an absent nod, he's not really focused on what Dylan's saying properly. He's already planning on what he could be doing. There are many things he could get up to with a full holodeck at his control. The possibilities are endless and this is the man to explore just how far he can go.

"Try?" Harper was back and frowning at Dylan. "There is no need for me to try. I can do it. With their permission. Who do I even need to ask? And what exactly is it you want? I can recreate Andromeda, I know all the best..." He stopped.

"What do you want me to program for you boss?"

[dreams_dont_die]

There's a skill to getting the best out of Harper. A little bit of faith, a little bit of getting on his nerves just right, and a lot of letting him have his head until he needs to be reined in. And the word try has had just that effect; Harper's indignant now. He's got something to prove.

And Harper with something to prove is far better than Harper alternately sulking and making snide remarks.

"I think the Chief Engineer is the place to start, Lieutenant Commander La Forge. Do you know him?"

If he'd wanted Harper to learn something about responsibility, about living here like he'd want his crew to live on the Andromeda, in their world, Harper's lived up to that. There were a lot of people helped and saved by his actions.

Dylan's proud of that.

He gestures towards the turbolift, then calls it and asks it to take them to Deck 10.

When they step inside, he pulls out the bracer.

"This has some High Guard training programs in it. I want you to program them."