Come Again, Squire?

Posted on Sat Mar 4th, 2023 @ 5:49pm by Senior Chief Petty Officer Thral Skrit & Ensign Vivienne Conrad & Ensign Kateyo Fenn

Mission: Wrath of the People
Location: Dionysus Bar
Timeline: En Route to Earth
2464 words - 4.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Looking ruefully into the bottom of his fifth, or was it seventh..., glass of whatever the hell the bartender said it was - apparently just about the only thing with a percentage on the bottle - Thral murmured to himself, commiserating on the events of the past weeks. He had, of course, escaped; the lone survivor of the Avalon catastrophe; and though his skin still itched from the residual nerve damage as they healed, he lamented that he hadn't been able to join his colleagues. Surely, it would be more fitting than sitting comfortably in a bar on the way back to Earth. Counsellor Savin had been helpful in some regard at least, he mused, if nothing else as a sounding board. What would have knocked most on their arses, was barely registering as a mild buzz in Thral's temples - so used to genuine alcohol was he. He sighed, looking at the stars slow to a crawl and then a dead stop as Athena dropped out of warp, probably entering the Sol system.

Teyo eyed the guy at the bar as he downed yet another drink. He looked as though he needed a friend and if the rumours he had heard were even half true, then Teyo knew he absolutely needed a friend. The Trill's only real question was, was he the type of friend the Andorian needed? He knew there were more experienced people on board who were trained to deal with such loss, but maybe what the Andorian needed right now wasn't a professional, it was someone real, someone like him. He grinned to himself as he moved over to the bar.

"Can I get you another?" Teyo asked.

Thral looked up to acknowledge the unfamiliar voice, his head preceded only by his antennae a second earlier; he surveyed the man's face for a moment. Definitely a cheeky fella, a glint of mischief in the Trill's eyes which the Andorian recognised as being the same glint from the mirror. Usually slender and slight, this bloke was massive for a Trill as well; a moment of sadness just tugged at Thral slightly as he realised that, actually, everyone's voice and face was unfamiliar to him now. He opened his palm and gestured to the empty stool next to him; "always mucka" he replied, flashing his trademark toothy grin.

Once in a while, and it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that she had nothing much else on her social calendar, Vivienne would set aside her toolbelt and step behind the bar for a shift or two. Normally, the expectation that she be good at pouring drinks once people found out where she'd eventually settled to call home was an outright annoyance, but she was human and the information didn't have to see the light of day if she chose not to disclose it. Whatever her relationship with stereotypes, and the fact that she very much didn't fit them, Risa had taught Viv plenty. The correct ratio of beer to froth. How to layer a Vulcan Neckpinch so that all the fizz settled on the bottom. How to hold one-sided conversations with patrons who only had ears for the sound of their own voice.

Actually, she'd been less successful at that one.

From about the same distance, forming the oddest of triangulations ever to exist, she'd been eyeballing the Andorian with much the same thought process as the Trill she'd been actively ignoring. Not, Viv reasoned, that Fenn had turned out to be as intolerable as promised but because she hadn't gauged enough about him yet to guess his opinion of her downing her own shot before she'd served him. Being on this side of the bar didn't automatically disqualify people from drinking.

Well, it did but only if you were somehow betrothed to the rules.

And now she watched, hearing the question and intrigued enough by the response to hover close enough to be the one called to honor it if accepted.

"Thal right?" Teyo asked as he sat on the stool. "Name your poison." He internally kicked himself. "Sorry, probably not the best choice of phrase considering... you know?"

Cocking one eye to the young man who had sat next to him, Thral thought it was a good opportunity to toy with the fresh faced officer. "Nah mate...know what...?" he asked, feigning confusion.

"Erm, you know? With the Avalon, and your crew, and all that business," Teyo said rather awkwardly as he tried to catch the eyes of one of the bar staff. He had heard that bartenders had the ability to read minds, obviously, it wasn't true, unless they were like telepaths and whatnot, but right now he really wanted it to be true. Save me from myself! He thought, sending out panicked S.O.S. vibes.

"He means since your entire crew was wiped out and your ship destroyed and now everyone wants to tiptoe around you like you're made of Aldean crystal." The familiar face, out of place, quite possibly wasn't the rescue party Fenn had signalled for though it did decrease his chances of being the most unintentionally offensive company in the room by at least half. Conrad emerged from her concealed observation to approach the pair, an expression of wry almost-sympathy on her features as she surreptitiously shook her head at Teyo. Then she turned her attention to the Andorian to finish her observation. "Which, I'm going to guess, isn't exactly helping you feel welcome."

"Are you accusing me of being too sensitive?" Teyo asked, cutting in before the Andorian had a chance to reply. "Seriously? That's a first."

Smiling broadly and raising his glass to the pretty woman behind the bar with the curly barnet, he winked exaggeratedly. "'bout time aint it?" Thral began, setting his once again empty glass on the bar and pushing it towards her for a further refill, he looked to the Trill and repeated his broad toothy grin. "'ooda thought this twist n twirl 'ave more cobblers than a strappin' fella like you eh mucka?" he remarked, particularly noticing the delicate features of the beauty before him, and enjoying the idea that this little thing had just put the clearly very masculine bloke in his place. He had been relieved, finally in these past moments, to have finally found someone who would just say it how it is; instead the crew of the Athena seemed to treat him as though he was carrying an Tamarian mud tick and staying well clear of him.

"That's Starfleet for you," Vivienne observed dryly, less concerned by the Andorian's speech patterns than most. They were quaint, unusual certainly, but you didn't serve drinks at a Risian resort for any length of time without developing some capacity for deciphering absolute gibberish. "If you're not watching, you'll wind up tripping over all the stray etiquette left hanging about." She refilled Thral's glass whilst simultaneously fixing Fenn with a and you should know better arch of her eyebrow.

Teyo gave the Andorian a questioning look before he tapped his combadge three times, holding his finger on it during the third tap. The badge beeped for a second, telling the user it had been reset. "Sorry, my universal translator must be on the brink, all I heard was Andorian," he said with a sheepish grin. He then turned to face Conrad. "And if you're done giving me weird looks, I'll have a beer, please. Any blend from Trill."

"I'll be done when you've stopped earning them," came the glib response, though Vivienne hesitated only a split second longer to add an additional smirk to her repertoire before turning to grab a glass.

Thral watched the sparring between his two new companions, it was refreshing to see; aboard the Avalon the stakes had been so high and the work so serious that frivolity and banter amongst the crew had seemingly not boarded via the same airlock as the Andorian's. "Anyway mucka" he said, patting the man's forearm in response to his comm badge jibe; "whaddya reckon you're gettin' upta on Erf?".

Teyo gave the Andorian another questioning look. It clearly wasn't the translator that was malfunctioning, which meant the man must be using a strange or broken dialect from a language the translator assumed Teyo knew. He had often thought that he should invent something that made everyone sound like they were from the Tarashi islands of Trill, at least that would be a pleasant sound. He wished now more than ever that he had followed through with that particular idea. Maybe a joint project with Mason?

Teyo replayed the sounds he heard in his head, slowly, until they formed words he understood. "Erf? Oh, Earth!" He said, finally catching on. "I'm on duty for most of the visit, but there are a few Academy friends I would like to see, including an Andorian I can actually understand," he added with a wide grin. "You?"

"Not a Bynar's Two mate...." Thral replied, suddenly aware that he had absolutely no plans whatsoever of any kind. No posting, no assignment, no project, no friends, no family nearby...he was at a bit of loss, truthfully. "S'pose it all depends where they stick me dunnit? 'ere er....you know Andorians?".

"I've known one or two in my time," Teyo said with a glint in his eyes. "There's something about the blue skin and the way their antennae move when they're excited, but I don't have to tell you right?" He held up his glass of beer and then took a huge gulp of the frothy drink. He wanted to feel sorry for the young Andorian but also didn't want to have Conrad judging him again. "You can hang with us," he said as he wiped the foam from his lips and turned to Viv with a smile.

Several blinks into the woman's return stare and it almost became unnecessary for Vivienne to vocalise that she wasn't aware there was an 'us' or any sense of 'hanging out' for that matter. Pulling shifts at the bar had become a way to render socialising a non-issue, even if it wasn't quite the same as finding like-minded people to shoot the breeze with in between duty shifts. For once, and it was a blessed proof that she was capable of restraint, the engineer opted not to question the Trill and instead turned her attention towards their new Andorian acquaintance.

"Where would you prefer to be stuck?," she asked bluntly. "If you were given an option, that is."

Thral looked to his male companion and offered a large wink; "Oh I can fink of a few places, aint that right mucka?" he chuckled, turning back to the pretty bartender. "Guess 'ere is a good a place as any aint it? Watchu reckon? Decent digs?". The Andorian had no idea where he'd end up, and if there was even a space for a senior sensor specialist on the Athena, but the ship seemed well run and the company was decent, everyone seemed to like, fear or respect the Captain; a good sign in his experience, that even amongst those who feared the man nobody had much a bad word to say about him from what he'd picked up eavesdropping.

An expression of stoic neutrality had lingered so long as the dominant reaction on Conrad's face that there was a point where it almost seemed like she was going to forget to blink. She had worked bars often enough, had lived on Risa long enough, to be reasonably sure that an Andorian had just leered at her. In front of Fenn. Had tried to implicate Fenn in a possible ongoing dissection of intent. Eventually, the woman's eyes blinked once and her gaze redirected itself to anticipate the Trill's response.

This ought to be precious.

Teyo looked between the two and smirked. "Oh there's definitely enough distractions," he finally said as he picked up his glass for another gulp. "Regardless of what your persuasion may be, the Athena caters for all." He smiled widely then lifted the glass to his mouth.

Flashing another large grin, the Andorian replied "Oh I don' need much persuasion fella" before downing the last of his own drink as well.

"Sounds like a match made in heaven." Far from offended, Conrad folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the bar, evidently amused. Her dark eyes studied the Andorian for a moment before she asked, "Luckily for you, you've happened upon the one person on board who has already started his own catalogue of local attractions." She offered a rare smile, though it was not without a degree of wry resignation. "Starting with himself."

"I know my worth," Teyo shrugged unapologetically. So clearly Viv wasn't a fan, he'd add her to the list. He wondered how she would react if he were to judge her solely based on rumours and hearsay. He considered asking her but then thought better of it. Thral had been through enough without having to hear the two engineers bicker, especially if he were considering joining the crew. So he smiled, outwardly phased by nothing.

Thral's eyes an antennae darted between the pair; "I err...I reckon I'll like it 'ere. If I get offered a transfer, I'll take it" he managed through the heavy laugh. "Hokey cokey pig in a pokey" he grinned, before giving a gentlemanly nod to the barkeep and a definite 'what happens in space stays in space' wink to the Trill bloke. He turned and left, his dropping antennae very much a symptom of too many whatever-the-hells he had.

Vivienne watched the engineer leave, as oblivious to Fenn's cyclic inability to decipher her sense of humour as she had been the first time. One of these days, it was going to get back to him that she actually spoke reasonably well of him behind his back, right down to sharing a degree of sympathy for the fact that he wasn't utilised properly. Hopefully she'd be there to see the resulting faint. "Engineering really is a zoo," was all she ended up saying, slightly mystified but also sounding partially approving. "You think he'll end up staying?"

"I hope so," Teyo said as he watched the Andorian walk out of the room. "I just hope he's not cursed," he added as he turned to face Viv, a dark grin plastered on his face. "Now how about you pour me another pint? In fact, pour one for yourself too, I'm feeling generous."