Casino Toram

Posted on Tue Jun 28th, 2022 @ 10:04am by Commodore Jacob Kane & Commander N'Garzi Zora & Ensign Charlotte (Charlie) Washington & Petty Officer 2nd Class Henry Washington

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Casino
Timeline: Shore Leave
1761 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

It was important, Kane was learning, to invest time in relationships with his crew. Especially having wrestled with the loss of Lt P'rel, whom he had treated as a close counsel, it was starting to feel like something he shouldn't put-off. That was why he had made sure to invite Commander Zora along for an evening of his shore leave - a period he would normally have spent alone.

Given his lack of real understanding of his XO's hobbies and interests, the casino felt like a reasonably safe bet; there were options for getting involved in some games or just observing.

Spotting Commander Zora with two vaguely familiar others, he approached them calmly.

"Commander Zora," he nodded, greeting her first. His eyes tracked the other two. Was there some sort of familial relationship between the two? They looked vaguely related. "I'm glad you decided to come along. Does anything take your interest?" he asked, glancing around the various offerings.

"Is there any way I can get you to call me N'Garzi while we are off duty?" Zora asked knowing that she was probably pushing the Captain to his physical limits right now. "I'm partial to some blackjack, but they have a few new games here that have piqued my interest."

Henry looked at the Captain as he came over and wanted very much to introduce himself. However, the Captain wasn't known for being very social and in truth, neither was he, not to mention the fact that he felt a little intimidated by the bald man. Instead, Henry looked around the casino and took in all the people and the games on offer. He wanted so badly to try everything but he knew if he made too much noise too early in the night, he would be asked to leave. One of the many issues with being too smart.

"Uh, if I may," Charlie raised her hand not wanting to be rude, but still wanting to make a suggestion. "Ensign Washington by the way, and this is my husband, Henry. It's nice to meet you, Captain," she quickly noted before moving on. "How about that table over there? The blackjack one. It has four openings and I've been watching the dealer for a while and haven't seen them rig the deck."

"It would seem, with four spaces and four of us, a reasonable suggestion." Kane nodded his assent to the idea. Playing with complete strangers was less preferable to acquaintances. He motioned for the couple to lead the way, falling into step alongside Zora. "In answer to your question, Commander..." he twitched a little. "N'Garzi. You know my feelings about becoming overly familiar with my crew. However, if we're to continue a standing working relationship built on trust, then I suppose I should consider a little more flexibility in that rule. Don't you think?"

"I absolutely do, Jacob," Zora replied with a twinkle in her eyes. "Now don't you feel more ... connected?" She asked, knowing that she was asking for a demotion, but enjoying herself way too much to care.

"Don't push it..." Kane murmured.

Henry didn't know how he felt spending his free time with the Captain and XO and was mentally signally to Charlie to make up some excuse so they didn't have to. Charlie wasn't getting the message though, so he chose a seat next to his wife and focused intensely on the back of the cards that were spread out on the table.

A huge smile donned Charlie's face as they took a seat at the table. Truthfully, she had never been great at gambling, but she had a good feeling about tonight. Plus, they were getting facetime with the higher-ups. Win-win. Though Henry was probably hating every second of this encounter, she thought, making a mental note to not let the night drag on too long.

The dealer sent out the first round of cards. Charlie sat on the edge of her seat, biting her lip as the first hand was revealed. The stranger at the end of the table received an eight of spades, followed by the Captain's seven of hearts, Zora's three of diamonds, and then her own five of spades. Henry's card was the last, but best of the cards to be dealt landing him a king of clubs.

"Ensign Washington and Mister Washington," Kane said, trying to make polite conversation at the very least. "How long have you been a part of the crew?"

Henry looked at Charlie expecting her to answer the question, but when he realised she wasn't going to, he decided that now was his chance to. "Urm, a few weeks, Sir," Henry said after clearing his throat. In truth, he would rather be focusing on the game than making ideal chitchat, after all, wasn't a casino just one big puzzle house where the odds weren't evenly stacked? However, social etiquette meant that he had to be polite. "We came over on the Colossal during the crew rotation. It was a nice ship but not as you Sir. Erm... I mean the Athena," Henry corrected as he went red.

Zora's smile broke out into a small giggle. "I don't think that's the worst compliment the Captain has heard," she said merrily.

"Oh, it's certainly up there..." Kane noted with a little shake of his head. He tapped the table for another card. "Zora can probably think of a few worse ones. What was it P'rel said a few weeks ago?"

"Something about you being relatively smart, for a human," Zora said, her smile broadening as she thought of her fallen comrade. "She'll be hard to replace," she added as she always indicated that she would like another card.

Henry was happy that the conversation had moved on somewhat but wasn't sure if he should say something about the intelligence officer who had died on their last mission. If he knew them better he would have offered to make a toast, obviously a very short one, but it felt inappropriate to do so, especially as he had never met the woman. Instead, he focused on his cards, deciding not to accept another one from the dealer.

"She will." Kane nodded at Zora's comment without delving into it. He winced at the last card and pushed his own ones away. "Doesn't look like my luck is in. How about you?"

"Some of us don't give up so easily," Zora said as she called for another card. Seeing the nine of diamonds side her way she groaned, "then again, maybe we should," she added with a smile.

Charlie was up to twelve when she tapped for a third card. "Don't give in after only the first round! I have a rule. Once you sit at a table, you must endure three rounds before giving up. I mean, it's a personal rule, but fifty percent of the time my luck turns around by hand three." Now up to fifteen, she went to tap again when a waiter with a tray of glasses caught her eye. Charlie flagged the man down and looked to her table mates. "Have you guys tried those Kauhoe Ahi Wai drinks? They're amazing!" She grabbed herself one of the sparkling blue drinks, eyes wide with excitement, and offered glasses to the others.

"I'll pass," Kane shook his head. He was quite particular about his drinking habits, and the crazy blue sparkles were not part of that. "Commander Zora will take one, though," he quipped quickly, a stray smirk crossing his mouth.

"Commander Zora will have one when Captain Kane calls me by my given name," Zora said with a grin. "And before you say it, yes I'm aware that rhymed."

Henry watched the exchange with fascination as he reluctantly picked up one of the drinks. He would much prefer a glass of red wine, maybe something Gamzian and very dry. Not wanting to make a fuss he picked up the blue drink and took a sip. SO SWEET he thought to himself as his mouth pulled into a grimace. "It's very nice," he said loud enough for everyone to hear.

Waiting to see how the final set of cards ended up, Kane smirked at the Petty Officer. "Perhaps not for me." He returned his attention to Zora. "Fine. N'Garzi." He said it pointedly. "But don't get any ideas that you get to call me anything other than Captain or Kane."

"Does that go for everyone at the table? Or are we limited to Captain?" Charlie asked with a sly grin, knowing it may have been a step too far. Then again, she could always blame it on the drink that she had already half consumed, right?

"She's joking," Henry said so quickly he started coughing and had to have another gulp of the horrible blue drink just to stop himself from dying. "I'm sure Kane, urm I mean the Captain is happy being called just that, CJ."

Zora grinned as she grabbed one of the glasses and let the blue liquid wash down her throat. "You call him whatever you like Charlie," she said merrily, "off duty of course."

The Captain let his eyebrow creep up, but he didn't rise to it. "At least while we're on shore leave you don't need to be worried about shoved in an airlock..." he noted.

"...just being left behind when the ship leaves orbit," Henry said.

The faintest of smiles flashed on Kane's face before he nodded his approval of the reply. "Better. Your luck is in." He motioned at the cards by the man's elbow. "Well played."

Charlie looked over, a large grin growing on her face. "Congrats!" She planted a large kiss on Henry's cheek. "You won! What do you say we take our winnings and go celebrate?" She asked, knowing that Henry had probably wanted an out from playing with the higher-ups the entire time they had been there and assuming she'd forced him into socializing for long enough.

Henry's eyes grew large, "oh yes please," he said a little too enthusiastically. "I mean if that's okay with you Captain? Commander?"

Zora gave Kane a knowing look, stretching out the agony for the young human. "I think that would be acceptable," she said finally. "Have fun crewman, Kane and I have some cocktails to pound," she added with a laugh.

"Your leave is your own, Ensign," Kane nodded. He glanced at Zora, who was already moving for the bar. "Unlike mine, it seems..."