A drink to success!

Posted on Fri Jun 6th, 2025 @ 1:33am by Lieutenant JG Astrja Kyan & Lieutenant Commander Savin & Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Lieutenant Alexis Ryan

Mission: Pandora's Box
Location: The Athena's Bar
Timeline: MD3?
1527 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Astrja danced into the room. "We did it! Drinks on the house! Bartender, get me an Easy Tiger, please." She spun around. "I was a bit worried when that tractor beam from the other ship stuttered but in the end, it all worked, just the way it was supposed to!"

The Andorian took a seat at the bar. "One small step and all that."

"It's a good thing it did work." Aidan smiled as he took walked in. The Trill had been worried about the outcome even though he had never doubted the expertise of the officers involved. "I'll have a large iced tea," he added as he approached the bar.

Adri let out an exasperated sigh as she followed the group. "I'm just glad I don't have to calculate phases again," she commented, asking the bartender for the daily special. "What was the final density again? I think my guess was off by a factor of three." To ease the tension left by Kozlov, Adri had proposed a friendly bet to guess what the density of the hull sample was. Of course, it was hard to find an appropriate time with their hours of preparation, but she managed to weasel it in about an hour before the actual procedure.

"The actual amount grabbed was always going to be a weird variable," said Astrja. "I am just so pleased that it worked! Take that Academy ranking."

It was not often, Nic was now in a position to notice, that the lounge saw a lot of action from groups of blue-shirts. Admittedly, the loudest member was wearing gold, but there was something quite encouraging about being confronted with scientists who knew how to step out of the lab once in a while. He finished Kyan's drink first and then hesitated over the iced tea, eyebrows raised in anticipation as he regarded the Trill. "Anything slightly adventurous in that tea or just....cold tea?"

"Mix up another Easy Tiger, Bartender," said Astrja. "If Adri does not want it, I will drink it," she adds with a wink.

Adri chuckled at Astrja's comment. "I won't say no, I suppose."

Aidan shook his head. "No alcohol or synthetic for me thank you. I had a very bad experience with both when I was younger. I'll stick with the tea, though if you want to add some fruits to it, feel free." The Trill smiled at the bartender. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

Astrja's antenna bent out. "I disagree. It's better to grab life with both hands and hold on for the ride." She smiled and took a sip of her drink.

The Trill smiled back at her and raised his glass once it was handed to him. "Each to their own," he said, "experiences shape who we are, and mine taught me not to entertain alcoholic or syntheholic beverages." His smile turned into a grin. "And this is adventurous, because my usual poison is actually iced water. Just plain and simple iced water."

"Well, I am glad to be a bad influence on you." said Astrja with a grin. "Maybe we can work you up to some Andorian The next time." She took a drink of her cocktail. "Ah, the ginger really makes it purr."

"I wonder what the big brains back at Starfleet will do with the sample?"

Aidan grinned back at her. "I actually grew up in an Andorian family. My father is Andorian, my sister half Trill. And if there's no alcohol involved I'm happy to try it, a drink that is. As for the sample, hopefully study it and then safely put it away?"

"Wonderful," smiled Astrja. "I suppose we could manage a virgin Easy Tiger, switch out the tequila for lemon and soda water? What do you think, bartender?"

Nic's expression skewed with over-exaggerated consideration, which peaked at a squint that made it seems as if he'd bitten into the aforementioned lemon himself. "I think we'd have to rename it," he eventually joked, unable to move past the notion of any kind of situation where a tiger could be both easy and chaste. "Still," he continued, starting to line up the ingredients side by side on the bar, "Nothing ventured..."

"Excellent!" smiled Astrja and looked back to Aidan. "Is your father from Andoria or one of the colonies?"

"Andoria, though he was assigned to Trill at the time. He still lives there now that he's retired. I grew up in the arctic region of the Trill homeworld." It was obvious the Trill had a great respect for his father. "Oh and soda water sounds great as a substitute, I'll happily try that." His attention returned to the Andorian female. "What about you?"

"Andoria, Irisali, North Continent girl, born and bred," she said proudly. "Though, as much as I love Andoria, I love seeing the Federation and strange new worlds even more. There are so many wonderful things to see and experience. Like dead planet killers," she added with a grin. "What about you?"

"Here we go." With a flourish, Nic poured the last measure carefully, intent enough on the creation process to have entirely missed the fact that he was interrupting. "This..." A tap of his finger coaxed free the last few drops, "is one very easy looking tiger, I would say. Give it a go." Transportation was likewise as precarious, as if jostling too much would disturb the blend. Nic placed the glass in front of Datari and straightened, looking pleased with himself.

"Nicely done," said Astrja.

Aidan watched the drink being made, silently marveling at the bartender's skill. "I started my tenure in Starfleet as my sister's interpreter. She's a doctor, but due to being born without antenae she has a hearing defect. I went through all her medical classes with her but never took the exams myself because at the time I was simply too young. When I was seventeen she encouraged me to head out myself and I enlisted as captain's yeoman and after that attended the academy in a remote fashion. I had a wide variety of positions ranging from communications to intelligence, before finally settling as science chief. My main belief is, everything is a form of language."

The Trill smiled as he carefully picked up the drink, unwilling to spill anything. He took a few thoughtful sips before looking up at Nic. "This tastes quite well," he praised. "Thank you."

"So, what do you do for fun?" asked Astrja, leaning back against the bar so she could watch the room.

"I'm raising some Ambystoma," Adri responded, content with her drink. "Specifically, a species from Veras III. They are surprisingly intelligent for aquatic salamanders, and are fun to play with. I also indulge in bouldering on occasion."

"Recently, I've been trying to teach my daughter how to skate," Aidan confessed, "I've been skating since I was her age. Or ice dancing, if you like..." He nodded to Adri. "I'd love to know more about your salamanders. I have a ah.. unique pet of my own, though I've instructed him to stay with my daughter and not under any circumstance appear here in case he interferes with anything. He ah...is somewhat akin to a dragon. Sort of."

"Bouldering?" asked Astrja. "I do not know much about salamanders."

"Rock climbing, but without the harnesses," Adri tried again, hoping the clarification made more sense.

"Ah," nods Astrja. "Sounds physically challenging."

"I used to do that! Ice skating, that is, not keeping dragons," said Astrja to Aidan. "If your daughter would like someone to practice with, I would be happy to. More exercise is always better."

"I don't like heights," Aidan confessed as he took another sip from his colourful drink, "and I love the cold. Saeri currently stays with my father on Trill, I'm picking her up as soon as this mission is over. And Sherlock isn't necessarily a dragon, though he does fly. He's about as long as my arm, so not very big. He hatched in my hands when I walked a market with my first partner. I was just 18 at the time and he was a starship captain." He paused, knowing that might raise questions because of the likely age difference. "He's very loyal and defensive," he added with a smile. "I'd call him but I doubt your captain would appreciate his presence. He uhm ... Teleports."

Astrja looked surprised at that. "Teleports!? That is very special. You are very fortunate." She took another sip of her drink. "Must be challenging though."

"The biggest challenge is to keep him from coming to my defense. He's bonded to me, so very receptive to my emotions. But since I have a daughter, thankfully he understands she needs watching more than I do. Especially since her mother left us." The Trill shrugged. "I'm fortunate to have him yes, but he's well behaved these days." He took another sip of his drink. "Perhaps when this mission is over, I can summon him."

"That would be fun," says Astrja. "What does he eat?"

The chat dissolved into discussing pets, past and present, food joined the drinks as people wound down after an intense work day.