Fry Wars

Posted on Sun Nov 24th, 2024 @ 7:40am by Dominic Lowell & Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea
Edited on on Sun Nov 24th, 2024 @ 7:41am

Mission: Character Development
Location: The Lounge
Timeline: Post-Q Drama
1566 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

"And you're positive the punch wasn't spiked?"

It had been, and Nic was by no means prone enough to exaggeration for it to be far off the mark, the most boring few days he'd ever spent behind a bar. This was solely the fault of work rosters and overly sensitive managers who could do with getting an imagination before they took a man to task for creatively rearranging cupboards because it had meant he was stuck behind this bar whilst just about everyone else on board was ordering exotic cocktails from entirely different bars down on the planet he was not likely to set eyes upon at this rate. Athena was never empty but the lounge didn't get a lot of traffic from those on-duty and nobody in their right mind was choosing the comfort of tedious routine comforts when they had time to explore the more liberally-minded ones down below. He had, in the end, when his efforts to attend the Commander's birthday party had been met with smug denial and an insistence that he work the night shift he was allotted to, resorted to playing solitaire on one of the back tables. To say that he was ecstatic to see people starting to drift back was putting it mildly, and he was exceptionally eager to entertain a familiar face, even if it was currently wearing an expression he had come to recognise as fresh-out-of-fucks. It was usually directed at him so this was, at least, an improvement.

He wasn't sure what to make of Nayisa's candid recount of the previous night, however. Had it been just her and a few of the juniors, he'd have chalked it up to experimental sight-seeing, but the Commodore had been involved as well as several other senior staff by the sound of it, and Nayisa didn't seem to be recollecting the experience with much fondness. If she rolled her eyes again, Nic might just have felt sorry for the Operations Chief, though there was something refreshing about being able to enjoy her sarcasm when it was aimed elsewhere for a change.

"Hallucinogenic bug bites perhaps?"

"Spiked punch sounds more fun than a Q experience," Nayisa responded, taking a sip of her drink. After a couple of attempts at questioning, the silver-haired woman gave Nic what he wanted, sparing no detail. Well, at least no physical detail, she left the emotional detail as an exercise to her current audience. She seemed rather chill but faintly annoyed by the whole experience, given most of it was just trying to get Xavier to loosen up a little. Dude had a problem. "But it was exactly how others have described it: flash of light, play Q's weird game, then flash of light as if you had never left. The stories I've heard were a lot more intense than fairytales, though, so I wonder why we got an easy encounter."

Maybe even omnipotent beings have a sense of self-preservation.. Nic smiled brightly as the thought dawned on him and exercised his own survival instincts to instead respond with, "If the legends are true then he's always been one to favour an over-reaction. Probably lost interest once he realised your poker face has its own poker face."

Nayisa snorted, giving her drink a swirl. "I dunno, Leiko screaming like a baby after being a bit of a tool was quite the over-reaction." Accompanying the drink was a classic selection of food one might find at an Earth bar: fries and ketchup, some wings, and a bowl of chocolates. The arrangement was set between them, a silent invitation for Nic to dig in as well. "I feel like that cancelled out my expertly crafted poker face."

Never one to turn down free food, Nic had been making short work of the fries and paused only to hold one up as a replacement to his index finger, jabbing it into the air for emphasis. "You realise this probably wouldn't have happened, or at least been way more interesting, if you'd taken me up on the offer and busted me out of indentured servitude." He wasn't sure what he expected her to do, a duty shift was a duty shift and permission to disembark was probably easy enough to forge but risky enough to make another stint of house arrest not worth it. But an entire pleasure planet, right there, and he'd been shut out completely! The indignity of it all was yet to evaporate.

A quiet 'hmm' came from Nayisa as she pretended to think about it. "But consider this: if you were at the party, then some other poor soul would have to take your place. Your indentured servitude is a selfless act, really." She would never admit it, but the party might've been more entertaining if Nic were there. Real entertainment, not Q-style entertainment. "Also, since when do you want to hang out with senior officers? Do you know how boring that is?"

"Oh, I'm sure some of them just need the opportunity to let their hair down. They were young once, right?" Taking a moment to munch on a mouthful, Nic then continued having only partially swallowed it, "I doubt they're all that bad anyway; do you plan on getting crankier and more prudish as you age?" Reaching for another fry, the bartender popped it between pursed lips and then used the tip of his index finger to tap it into his mouth, eyebrows waggling. "Can't picture it myself."

Rolling her eyes but still finding him amusing, Nayisa flicked a fry at him, watching it hit his neck before balancing precariously on the collar of his shirt. "Please, if I become cranky like some of them, you can guarantee that I'm retiring the next day. It's exhausting taking everything so seriously. I dunno how the senior staff do it." Grabbing a couple of fries, Nayisa munched on them thoughtfully. "You can't tell me that being up here was completely boring. I bet that weekly chess match between those two Bolian Ensigns was invigorating."

The immediate deadpan was no doubt worth the wait. "Need I remind you," Nic started, flourishing another fry as one might a fencing foil, "that I circumvented security protocols to call you when you were cooped up in your quarters. I even provided some entertainment." As the fry drooped, he changed tactics and attempted to slap it against the tip of her nose. "You could have returned favour and at least tried to bust me out."

A slightly dramatic sigh came from Nayisa as she conceded. "Fair enough. Next time I'm invited to some boring birthday party for someone, I'll make sure you're my plus one. Cross my heart." To emphasize the point, she took a fry and, imitating his use of the cooked potato strip as a pointing tool, made an X across her chest. "Though, there are way better things worth busting out of dishwasher duty for than the first officer turning one year older."

A mixture of intrigue and suspicion instantly dominated Nic's expression as he turned his head slightly to the side and fixed the Intel officer with the full impact of a wary side-eye. "This sounds like the machinations of a woman with a plan." Very slowly, he drew a fry to his mouth and chewed with deliberate consideration. "I'm listening."

Nayisa thought for a moment, chewing one of the fries in silence. "I'm sure I could arrange an evening free of dishwasher duty to spend more time with Layla," she offered with a little grin. Rather than fighting it, she got used to the guitar's name, though every once in a while she would intentionally say the wrong name just to mess with him.

"Hey now, she's a simple girl. No need for any of your flashy super-spy shenanigans to get her attention, you just need an evening free...and a decent tolerance for a slightly finicky G-string." It didn't require a lot of time investment into hearing the man play to realise his aptitude outstripped his instrument, but nothing improved the tone quite like nostalgia. This was Nic's philosophy at any rate, and his attachment to the guitar seemed, despite the odds, completely unironic.

"Why not both?" Nayisa offered with a small grin. A perk to her position was that she knew how to make herself more charismatic, and she found herself doing it now. What was strange about it was that there wasn't any reason behind her apparent show, there was no information to be obtained. In any case, despite the rather odd usage, it still felt natural. "I get you a night free, and you make it worth my while."

For a self-proclaimed "mystery buster" who fancied himself a freelance investigator, Nic had proven time and time again to either be a very good actor or exceptional slow on the uptake. It certainly took him a moment this time, disarmed as always when his best friend on board, (this was not from a particularly large playing field), decided to flirt. Then, as realism sank in, the slow creep of a goofy smile commenced.

And lingered, far too long in absolute silence for any attempt at a suave recovery.

In the end, he settled for the only appropriate response given the circumstance.

"Yes, ma'am."