A Chiefs Chit-Chat (WT)

Posted on Thu Jan 23rd, 2025 @ 12:15am by Lieutenant Irynya & Lieutenant Cassian Maritz

Mission: Mean Green Queen
Location: King's Shilling bar
Timeline: Mission Day 5 at 1930

Cassian ran through the mental checklist of everything that he'd had to do since arriving on the Sojourner: meet the CO and XO, introduce himself to his roommate, get himself and Blue settled into their quarters, and maybe even get something to eat before he headed off to bed. Oh, and he couldn't forget the onboarding medical either. He'd promised Gwen a proper catch up like they used to back in the day.

"Computer, tell me the name of the bar, lounge or mess hall that would be least packed at this time of the evening." He asked to no one in particular as he sat down on the edge of the bed and patted Blue who was purring contentedly on his lap.

"King's Shilling bar would be the least occupied at this time of the evening, with the more occupied times being around 1730hrs throughout the week." Came the automatic reply from the ship's computer. Cassian was grateful for that knowledge, even though he had no idea what level it was on.

"Computer, what deck is this bar on?" He asked again.

[30 minutes later]

Cassian had fed Blue, taken a quick shower after making sure Victoria wasn't needing it and had made his way to the bar with a padd that he'd loaded a book onto and taken a seat at the far end of bar, ordering himself a drink that wasn't anything fancy but still had a bit of flavour to it. It was quiet enough in the bar that he got himself engrossed in the book and failed to hear that someone had some up next to him and was ordering something.

It had been an interesting day for Irynya. New roommate who had turned out to be a completely unexpected disaster, hours in Sickbay for everything from decontamination to detailed evaluation, and emergency rearranging of the Flight Controller schedule to account for the fact that she had been quarantined. They hadn't even been allowed back into their quarters to collect any personal effects before they were assigned temporary sleeping quarters in the enlisted bunks. She'd been tempted to try to snag Noah for a cuddle on the couch--being held felt like safety at that point--but since their room was being sorted out there wasn't even a couch to cuddle on now. Besides, Noah was still processing just as much as she was. The panic of the experience that morning was still lingering in the back of her head anyway, and at that moment she would happily find any reasonable way to silence it.

So instead of staying in their assigned bunks in the enlisted berthings she went to the bar. Ostensibly her official reason had been to be alone and think, but in reality, she suspected it was because she knew that the barkeep could make her a Risian Sunrise. It was a drink she and Marteli had shared numerous times and contained a type of native rum that wasn't exactly easy to come by, but which she suspected David Mccolugh had on hand at least in small quantities. Debbie, too, might have had some around, but she knew the personable and extremely socially aware woman might also pick up on her mood and offer her an outlet for it. Not that she would mind talking to Debbie.

She sighed as the conflicting circular thoughts continued to cycle through her head and the doors to The King's Shilling parted to reveal the real wood bar, cozy fire, overstuffed chairs, and eclectic decor that Mccolugh preferred. With a quick glance at the bar she saw that one of David's other bartenders was on that evening. For a moment she debated turning around, unsure if anyone other than David would produce the type of drink she wanted, but in the end she was already there so she pulled up next to the man already seated and ordered.

"Hi," she said with a warm smile. Even with a bundle of dissonance coiled inside of her she was Risian to her core and none of it came through in her greeting to the barkeep. "Risian Sunrise please? The real stuff if you have it."

Cassian turned off the padd and switched his focus to the woman who had just spoken to him, blinking a couple of times to adjust his vision correctly and smiled a bit, "Hello, did I just hear you order a Risian Sunrise?" His tone was friendly enough, even if it was sounding more tired than anything, and he shuffled around to face her a bit more. "I'm Cassian, by the way, the new Security Chief."

"Irynya," she answered, angling herself so she could stick out her hand for him to shake. "Acting Chief Flight Controller." Another pang. Timmoz... She shoved that thought to the back of her mind and focused on the security chief.

From this angle he would now be able to see the gleam of the ja'risia on her forehead and recognize her as a Risian, assuming her name didn't automatically ring bells from the security summons to her quarters that morning.

"Your name seems familiar, it was your quarters that some of my team were called to this morning, wasn't it?" Cassian questioned as his brow furrowed as he tried to remember what he'd read earlier on today. It was quite concerning, even to him, that that creature had gotten on board in the first place, and it made him almost feel like he didn't live up to his role to help protect the ship.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, it must have been quite an experience for you." He flagged down a bartender's attention and got another whiskey and coke. "I'm just glad that the team has a good response time and got there before anything else happened."

An echo of claustrophobic panic rang through Irynya at the mention of the not-Josh-Peters creature that had attempted to... consume... her earlier that day. She pushed it back, shoulders raising in a small shrug. "Believe it or not, that's not the first alien encounter I've had in my quarters like that." Her mind drifted backward to the photonic life forms who had begun mimicking crew members and had joined in an off-duty game of Never Have I Ever in lieu of Sheldon... or rather... as Sheldon. "It was the most sticky, though," she added, shuddering a bit at the memory of the gooey remains of the creature.

She eyed the new security chief and seemed to realize that he'd been extending her a kindness and here she was brushing it off as if this were an everyday occurrence. Something in her head raised a warning flag that she was minimizing things, but she ignored it. "Sorry, I appreciate the thought. It definitely wasn't an experience I'd like to have again."

Cassian put on an air of bravado and put his hands on his hips as he puffed his chest out (think a Superman or All Might kind of pose), "Never fear, I am here to serve and protect!" He then burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, "I am SO SORRY! I promise that wasn't a pickup line or anything, it was just an attempt to lighten the mood and make you laugh, and it sounded just as lame in my head as it probably did out loud." His laughter was more nervous now as he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks.

To Irynya's surprise and absolute delight the Security Chief struck a pose, adding to it a dramatic voice as he proclaimed his intentions. The immediate burst of laughter following was also clearly self-deprecating and a tiny bit nervous. She couldn't help a soft touch of sympathetic understanding and joined the laughter with a chuckle and an appreciative grin.

"That also wouldn't have been the worst pick up line I've ever heard," she commented with an amused wrinkling of her nose, "even if it wasn't intended as such." For good or ill Irynya had been the recipient of any number of pick up lines, so she felt confident that she could speak the subject with some authority even if it was based mostly in her own experience as a Risian amongst so many people who knew her home world only by its reputation.

"Did you know that different races have completely different approaches to pick up lines?" she asked then, rushing ahead in her usual fashion. "For example, Tellarites use insults. The bigger the insult the greater the attraction and desire to take you to bed." It was out of her mouth before she could stop it, remembering that she was talking to a senior officer, and a new one that didn't know her from a yeoman from the pool.

"I mean, what can I say? I'm honestly an idiot at heart and I have an ex who will happily agree to it." Cassian finished off the drink in front of him and sighed lightly, "In terms of pickup lines though, I've been on the receiving end of the insults and yep, can confirm that it results in a greater attraction." He nodded in his own agreement. "But anyway, different story for a different time."

Smirking, Irynya eyed the security chief, a new degree of curiosity and respect in her glance. Tellarite pick up lines were certainly not for the faint of heart. Thought she could appreciate a cultural practice with the best of them, she'd never warmed to the use of insults as a way to buoy attraction.

The bartender chose that moment to slide a tall glass with a long stem and thin bowl that belled at the bottom across the wood surface of the bar. The drink within was the color of sunrise--swirls of orange, yellow, pink, and even glimmers of gold undulated within the liquid creating a mesmerizing effect that drew the eye and invited the watcher to relax into the movements of the liquid.

"Beautiful," Irynya murmured, and took hold of the glass where the stem met the bowl and lifted it, holding it before her and tilting slightly left and right to catch the light from different angles. It was, hardly, a true representation of sunrise on Risa, but it evoked the memory all the same and she suddenly found herself wishing for a certain quiet clifftop that overlooked the water. She'd planned to share it with Kennedy whenever they got back to the Alpha Quadrant. Now that plan felt like another lifetime away. And... maybe... she'd get to share the sight with someone else.

"Cheers," she finally said, tilting her glass toward the chief's so that he could tap his own to hers. "To bad pick up lines and new beginnings."

"To bad pick up lines and new beginnings," Cassian echoed as he tapped his glass to hers. Her drink was beautiful and sparkled in all the right places. One day he'd actually get to see a Risian sunset in all its glory and hopefully nothing would compare. "I think if I ever manage to find myself on a date with someone, I'm going to order her that drink, it looks almost too beautiful to drink though."

"Too delicious not to," Irynya countered, holding the glass out for him to taste if he was so inclined. "But only an echo of the real sunrise. Have you been? To Risa, I mean." This was always interesting territory. Sometimes unpleasant, but she always felt she learned a lot about people by what they knew of her homeworld.

Cassian was caught by surprise when she offered the drink but accepted it and took a sip from the side. The explosion of flavour was insane, so amazing he couldn't put it into words. "Wow" was all he could come up with before shaking his head at the question she'd asked, "Unfortunately, I haven't. I've heard a lot of different things about it, but the main part is that it's intensely beautiful and I'm guessing it's true? That nothing compares?"

At a minimum the pilot's grin could be described as smug while as she watched the security chief's expression shift from polite curiosity to broad appreciation. "See," she said following his reaction. "Too good not to drink." She took the glass back when he offered and took a sip herself, feeling a bit like she was pulling on the warm sun, sand, and night breeze of home as she did. While she sipped Cassian answered her further question and she grinned even more broadly as she swallowed again.

"I'm a bit biased on this subject," she commented with a small chuckle, "but yes... by my view nothing compares. I'm sure others might disagree. I know more than a few people who would argue the Andorian mountains rival Risa in its beauty. And I'm sure that they must come close. But for me... nothing compares. Not really." She brought her glass to her lips again taking another sip and enjoying the weight of the juices and liquors on her tongue for a moment before she continued. Somewhere in the back of her mind a dim reminder that the day had been far from normal flashed and even less pleasant, but if she had learned nothing else growing up, it was that living in the moment was worth the invested focus. And right now, the comfort of conversation and familiar tastes worked well.

"What about you?" she asked, curious. "Where do you hail from?"

"Unfortunately, I can't say I hail from anywhere as exotic sounding as you." Cassian admitted as he finished his drink, "I'm from California on Earth, and it's definitely not a utopia. The one good thing though, is that my parents originally lived right on the water and we could see the Golden Gate Bridge and Starfleet HQ across the harbor. It's very busy and loud in the city, but if you go out further and away from it all, it's actually quite beautiful."

"Exotic is in the eye of the beholder," Irynya quipped back, chuckling. "When I was still thinking about joining Starfleet California sounded downright glamorous. And with Starfleet right there... a bit like a utopia of its own. I guess we all see the cracks in the facades where we are and often miss them looking on from afar."

Her tone had turned more serious than she intended, and she shook her head as if to shake the thought away. "Sorry, didn't mean to get so philosophical there," she said, fixing Maritz with a sunny grin before taking another sip of her drink.

Cassian shook his head, "That's all fine by me. I must say though, I have been to even more beautiful places on Earth, one of them being New Zealand. What I'll get you to do is close your eyes for a moment and picture what I'm saying," he waited for her to close her eyes, "Now. Imagine a place where every view looks like it could be a postcard: set against a backdrop of jagged, snow-capped mountains that rise dramatically from the shores of a deep blue lake. The landscape is a mesmerizing mix of alpine peaks, lush forests, and crystal-clear waters. In the summer, the mountains are draped in vibrant green, and the lake sparkles under the sun, creating a serene, almost magical atmosphere. In winter, the peaks are blanketed in snow, transforming the town into a winter wonderland with a cozy, enchanting charm."

For good or ill, Irynya had a vibrant imagination and as Maritz spoke she painted a picture in her head, drawing on pieces of different places she had been or holodeck adventures she'd enjoyed. She wasn't entirely sure what a postcard was, but she had an idea that it was like a still frame of a place and so that was sufficient for her. For the mountains she drew on images from Andoria. Not someplace she had been, but she'd seen enough photos of their famous mountains to draw them forth in her mind. The forests she drew from the beautiful spot they'd stopped for shore leave when Captain Kodak had actually suggested they go camping. And the clear waters... they were a bit of home in her mind. It was, she had to admit, a beautiful riot of contrasts and decadence.

"Open your eyes and tell me what you think of that." He paused for a moment, "That's a town on the South Island of New Zealand called Queenstown, and it's one of my most favorite places to visit whenever I get a chance to go back home. It's definitely way better than California at any rate." Cassian admitted as he swirled the rest of his drink in his glass. "I mean, I'd love to take you there on a holodeck adventure some time. Friends only, of course! And if you're not sick of me, that is."

For a moment she had the intense urge to ask him who had hurt him that he felt any need to caveat the invitation. A voice in the back of her head... one that sounded suspiciously like Timmoz... reminded her that human civilizations were young still and hadn't reached the levels that Risa and Orion had in which it wasn't necessary to self deprecate. Not that some folks didn't still do it, but it was certainly something she saw more in humans than anyone else. Instead she smiled broadly, fixing him with a classic All that is ours is yours Risian demeanor. "It would be quite a feat to be sick of you after only just meeting you. And Queenstown sounds beautiful. I'd love to see it, even in the holodeck sense. We'll have to find a time and you can be tour guide. I'm rather a fan of new places and experiences."

Another sip, and then another longer one, drained the Risian's glass and she signaled for the bartender to pour her another. "So," she said after a moment had passed and a fresh drink had appeared, "Where else in New Zealand should I see?"

=/\= A mission post by =/\=

Lieutenant Cassian Maritz
Chief Security Officer

Lieutenant Junior Grade Irynya
Acting Chief Flight Controller