Bourbon in the Back Room

Posted on Sun Jul 14th, 2024 @ 9:45am by Ensign Kateyo Fenn & Lieutenant Commander Finnley Keating VII

Mission: Character Development
Timeline: After The Marine Rescue
2350 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure

"I hear you've been cleared?" Finn smiled at the burly marine she most commonly referred to as Uncle Ray. He had been sitting silently on a bio bed, almost as though he was in a trance. There hadn't been much time to divulge all the details of the mission yet, but judging on the few number of marines that came back, she knew it had been rough, but she was just glad that Ray had made it back.

Ray had sensed ahead of time that Finn had entered the room and he smiled. "Yep, no worse for the wear."

"I think we can change that." Finn leaned in to whisper. "How does a small jaunt to the depths of engineering with a bottle of legitimate bourbon sound?"

Ray grabbed his jacket and hopped off the bed. "you know, you've always been my favorite niece."

"I'm your only niece," Finn rolled her eyes with a chuckle as the two ditched sick bay and headed down the corridor.

The walk itself didn't take too long, only five minutes or so. The journey there however was a bit interesting. Finn led her uncle through a set of twists and turns, a few jefferies tubes and seemingly abandoned corridors until eventually they ended up in a small room with a porthole. The room itself had enough space for four people to sit comfortably thought the small window made it somehow feel at least a little more spacious. Finn leaned against the wall and let out a sigh that she hadn't even known she was holding in.

"Rough mission?" Ray asked.

"Not as rough as I'm guessing yours was," Finn reached into her jacket and pulled out the bottle of bourbon. "Wanna talk or drink?" She offered him the bottle.

"Drink first, maybe talk later. Let's just see where this bottle takes us," Ray smirked before taking a swig and then Finn followed suit.

"Is this a private party or can anyone join in?" Teyo had heard voices in one of the more secret locations on the ship. He had figured that some low-ranking officers had discovered the area and were using it as a private drinking spot; he froze when he saw who was actually using the area. "Commander, Captain...I didn't realise..." he said trailing off.

"Ah, hell, I don't mind," Ray smiled before suddenly sensing that Finn didn't exactly feel the same way. "Then again..."

"Ensign Fenn," Finn nodded towards Teyo who she really hadn't even interacted with since she'd been back. She had left him to O'Connell for the most part and it had seemed to go pretty well. "This is Captain McClelland. One of the marines assigned to the recent mission and my uncle. We were just catching up, but seeing as how we don't often get to see each other, I think we'd prefer to keep this party private if you don't mind."

"Aye Sir," Teyo said towards Finn and then turned to leave. He was actually grateful to be dismissed, socialising with the human engineer never seemed to go well. He took a step and then tentatively turned back to face the pair. "Captain McClelland, I heard about the mission Sir. I am sorry about your unit."

Ray gave a solemn nod and raised up the bottle they had been drinking from. "To the fallen," he said before taking a swig and handing it to the young man that had stumbled in. Maybe Finn wasn't a fan, but it would have been rude to not offer a shared drink to him after his statement.

Teyo looked at Finn before he accepted the bottle from Ray. She didn't look pleased about the idea of him joining in but she didn't say no either and that was enough for the young Trill. "That'll kill a few brain cells," Teyo winced as the liquid burned its way through his digestive tract. He quickly handed the bottle to Finn.

"Too much for ya?" Ray chuckled at Fenn as Finn downed a swig with a straight face. "Then I guess you really can't join us." His words had a hint of challenge in them that perfectly accompanied the smirk on his face.

"That sounds like a challenge," Teyo said as he puffed out his chest. He would try and stand a little taller but already being on the short side, trying to look taller always gave off the wrong impression to people. "Sir!" He added quickly, suddenly remembering who he was speaking to. If only they would allow him to speak freely, he could call them both out on their exclusion.

"It is definitely not a challenge," Finn quickly interceeded.

"Aw, come on Finn. Don't be a stiff like your dad, let him in on the fun." Ray could sense the tension between the two and at this point, curiosity had taken hold. He wanted to find out more about what made her want to kick the ensign out so badly. Finn in turn gave Ray an icy side glance before gesturing towards the ground for Teyo to join.

"Erm...are you sure?" Teyo asked, looking at Finn. Her icy stare didn't change, clearly she hated being questioned just as much as she hated the idea of him joining them and so he didn't say another word and plonked himself on the ground. "If we're going to drink I think we need to drop the formalities," he said directly to Ray. There was more of a chance of him agreeing than Finn and she seemed to listen to her uncle. "That's how you marines do it right? Sorry!" He quickly added, not sure why he brought them up again.

"Fair enough. Ray," he extended his hand to the young man with a smile. "I get the feeling you two are already acquainted," that much was clear even without his telepathic abilities, "and maybe not on the best of terms. Maybe something some good strong bourbon can fix?"

I don't think any bottle of bourbon can fix Fenn's problems, Finn bit her tongue and kept her words to herself, or so she thought anyway. She took another long swig from the bottle before handing it back to her uncle. "Just don't make me regret this."

"Kateyo Fenn," Teyo said grabbing the marine's hand and ignoring the acid tongue of the chief engineer. "But most people call me Teyo or Fenn. Can I ask, is she always like this?" He nodded his head in Finn's direction as he took the bottle from Ray.

"Yea, but she gets it honestly," Ray chuckled. "You should meet her dad." He took another drink, well on his way to intoxicated at this point and then handed it to their new friend. "So how do you two know each other? You're either an engineer or a former relation, I'm not sure which yet."

Teyo all but choked on his drink at Ray's question. He quickly moved the bottle from his lips, giving him space to cough the liquid back to the correct pipe. He felt his cheeks growing warm and wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, of which he had already had way too much, or the insinuation that he and Finn had once been lovers. "She wishes," he managed to blurt out, regretting it the second it had escaped his lips.

"That you were an engineer or a former relation?" Ray chuckled as he felt the wave of anger from Finn. "Ok, clearly not a relation."

"Obviously," she responded, slightly confused at how he'd arrived at the answer without having been told it. "Ensign Fenn is an engineer. Not the type to keep out of trouble either. Though," she stole the bottle from Fenn and took a very large drink, "he is exceptionally talented when he choses to funnel it into productive means."

Teyo turned to Finn, unable to hide the surprise from his face. "That might be the nicest thing you have ever said about me Fi-, I mean Commander," he quickly corrected. In this light, she was more beautiful than ever. He knew that a night with her would be out of the question but one couldn't help but fantasise.

"Oh so one of you wants to be in a relationship," Ray laughed.

"Wait, what?" Finn looked between Fenn and Ray. "What is he talking about?" She asked Fenn, thinking he must have said something to him earlier.

Teyo shot a look at Ray and studied the man's face. Had he just read his thoughts? He didn't look Betazoid, not even part Betazoid like Xav or Jerant, but that didn't mean he wasn't. There was a feeling, a fuzzy one, just like after Xav had been inside his head...or like after he had drank a lot of alcohol. So was he sure? Dirty old man, has feelings for his niece Teyo thought, loudly.

"NO," Ray emphatically looked at Teyo. His eyes conveyed nothing but sincerity and anger at the thought that he could ever had those kind of feelings for his niece. He never had kids of his own so she was practically a daughter to him and the thought absolutely disgusted him before he quickly realized everything he was saying was out of context for the others. "I mean, that's just what I gathered from Mr.Fenn here. When he said 'she wishes' to my earlier question. Usually the person that says that sort of thing is the one that actually wishes it would happen. You know what I mean?" He grinned, hoping no one would see through the act and made a mental note to stop drinking lest he burst out with more unprompted responses.

Gotcha! Teyo thought triumphly. So the marine was a telepath and for some reason, Finn didn't know, he couldn't help but wonder why all the secrecy. He could tell her, but he was already on Finn's naughty list and didn't fancy scrubbing conduits for the rest of his life. Teyo's dark eyes met Ray's and he held it for a second before he dropped his gaze. "No, I really meant she wishes," he grinned. "I mean...look at me," he added as he flexed his bicep a little and felt the muscle strain across his tight uniform.

Curious, Ray thought. It was clear he'd been caught, but for whatever reason the young man hadn't given up his secret. He eyed the ensign suspiciously for a moment before deciding to play along. "You must work out a good bit then?" He remarked, feeding into Fenn's clearly narcissistic view of himself.

Finn merely rolled her eyes, now fully distracted from the previous topic thanks to the alcohol and quick change in conversation. "Oh no, now we're going to have to hear all about his workout routine and how perfect his body is," she mockingly showed off her muscles in an exaggerated impersonation of Teyo before laughing.

Teyo laughed along. "Don't worry Commander, I won't bore you with the full routine." He grabbed the bottle and took a bigger mouthful than he realised. He could feel the drink going straight to his head. "Anyways, if Ray wants the full details he can just..." he tapped the side of his temple with two fingers and smiled.

Finn raised a brow and looked between Fenn and her uncle. "What is that supposed to mean?" She imitated the gesture Fenn made.

"Probably just signaling that he thinks we think in the same way, right?" Ray quickly chimed in with an undertone of panic.

"Yeah, right," Teyo replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "That's what I meant," he added with a drunken wink.

"Ok, clearly I'm missing something. Just spit it out. Have you guys met before or something and you're trying to keep it a secret?" She asked, clueless as to what could actually be going on.

"I'm an engineer," Teyo replied, his words slurring together. "I theorise, I speculate, I prove. I don't know anything," he finished with a loud hiccup. "Things shouldn't be secret anyway," he muttered under his breath.

"Then theorize, what's your theory?" Finn asked.

"You know, I think we've all had a bit too much. What do you say we call it a night?" Ray spoke up. "Don't want to waste all of the good stuff in one night right?" He moved to stand.

"You stay right there," Finn waved a drunken finger at him. "I want to know whats going on. Neither of you are acting like your normal, well drunken normal selves. I think."

Are you going to tell her or should I? Teyo thought loudly as he glared at Ray. He couldn't comprehend why his telepathy would be kept secret from his niece though he had a theory, another one. Finn wasn't exactly cool around telepaths, though she seemed to put up with Xav so maybe he was wrong about that. Stop being a coward!

"GET OUT," Ray bellowed uncharacteristically at the young engineer. Maybe his cover had been blown, but this wasn't the right place or time to have this conversation either way. With any luck, they were all drunk enough that no one would remember the finer details in the morning and if they did he could explain it then.

"Fine!" Teyo shouted back to hide how startled he was at Ray's outburst. He quickly jumped to his feet and swayed a little. He managed to catch himself before he fell back to the ground. "Live in the closet your whole life, it makes no difference to me." He went to storm away before turning back to Finn. "For once, this wasn't on me, not that I expect you to believe me," he added before leaving.

"For once, I think I might believe you," Finn said, throwing a side eyed glance at Ray. "Have a good night, Fenn."

Teyo nodded and then left, clearly these two had a lot to talk about and he wasn't sticking around for that conversation.