Blue and Pink

Posted on 23 Apr 2015 @ 6:02pm by Lieutenant JG Emmarie (E'Ma'ri) & Senior Chief Petty Officer Keval zh'Erinov

1,854 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 7, Callisto Bar
Timeline: MD-03, 0000

ON:

Emmarie yawned quickly, before trying to focus on the task at hand. It was rather late in the evening, but she was trying to iron a few bugs out of the Universal Translator. Fortunately she wasn't working on it alone, as CPO Keval ah'Erinov was handling the communication systems interface related parts of the issue, and she was concentrating on the other technical issues. "I think we've almost got it working like it should be," Emmarie said. "It's rather tempting to just set it aside for later and go get a drink
or something."

Not too much longer, she chided herself. Still, it had been hard for her to unwind recently. She missed her friends from Trinity.

Keval smiled at her,both antennae curled slightly forward. It was easy to smile at her she was rather an attractive women after all. A fact he could appreciate "It shouldn't be that much longer," he said, "but if you wan we could take a break and go and grab a drink in one of the lounges."

"Let's push through it," Emmarie said, knowing that it was the proper thing to do. "And then we can really celebrate when we're through here." The thought of the bar a few decks away was a tempting one. Soon, she chastised herself.

"Whatever you say Lieutenant," Keval replied as he continued to work on the interface. After perhaps another five minutes of concentrated effort and relative silence he said, "Ah ha, I've got the relay module corrected. How are you coming along?"

"I've isolated the power system fluctuations and put a temporary redirection into place until the hardware can be repaired. I think we can call it a night." Her voice sounded a bit overeager to her own ears, and she hoped that it wasn't as noticeable to Keval. Then again, Andorians tended to be good at picking up on such things.

The corners of Keval's lips curled up slightly as left antennae shifted slightly forward and to the left. "Well I'm ready and the first round is on me. I could use a drink about now. You know a real one."

"That sounds perfect," Emmarie said, and from the tone of voice she used, she might as well been discussing something like sex. Exiting the room, she headed off to the nearest turbolift. She matched Keval's stride, and walked for a moment in silence, before realizing that she hadn't gotten to know him at all. "So how long have you been aboard?"

"I've been here a little over a year now. It has been, well it's been interesting. We've dealt with everything from Borg to Cardassian zombies to a plague of tribbles that almost destroyed the ship. This not your father's science ship. And now we're engaging in a war games simulation.

What about you? I mean, I know you're new to the ship, but where were you before?" he asked as he hastened his stride to catch up to her.

"USS Trinity," Emmarie said. "It was a Sabre-class. We definitely didn't have a bar." Entering the turbolift, she gave the order to proceed to said bar. "Wait a minute..." she said. "Plague of tribbles?"

"Yeah," Keval said leaning against the wall of the lift. Close but not too close. "Tribbles. They were everywhere, and by everywhere I mean everywhere. You couldn't eat, walk down a hall, take a shower, meet a friend or lover, without having to wade through a sea of them. At the end they almost overwhelmed our systems and were even more dangerous than the Borg.

"Wow..." Emmarie said. "I had always thought that the worst plague would be the plague of spiders." She shivered a bit. "Make me decide between a Klingon with a bat'leth and a box full of spiders, and I'd take the Klingon any day of the week. How about you?"

The 'lift stopped at their destination, and Emmarie looked around a bit, trying to remember if it was a left or a right down the corridor.

Keval's right antennae tweaked forward slightly, well spiders never particularly bothered me, one way or the the other, but still I think I'd have to agree with you."

He'd taken a half step to the left before he realized she looked a little confused, "uh, this way, "he suggested as he touched her arm lightly.

"Thanks. Still trying to get used to where everything is," Emmarie said, somewhat sheepishly. Starfleet seemed to be against big lighted signs to denote the various locations of their vessels.

A moment later they were inside the bar, and Emmarie turned to Keval. "Table or bar?"

"How about a table?" Keval suggested, "I thought I saw an empty one near the viewport."

"Perfect," Emmarie said, her eyes drifting over to that side of the room. "I'll grab the table if you'll grab the drinks?" she proposed. "You can just surprise me, I drink anything."

"Sure," Ahira responded as he moved to the bar. Undecided as to what he should get he stood there for a moment while the bartender asked him for his order. Thinking quickly as there were people behind him he said, "Two daiquiris please, with real booze."

After the drinks were handed to him he turned, quickly spotted the woman, after all there weren't any other Orions in the room at the time, then crossed the distance between them. He sat one of the drinks down on the table, then slid into a seat across from her.

"There you go," he said, "it is my favorite."

"Thanks," Emmarie said. She took a quick sip of the drink, then nodded. "It's good." It was kind of a surprise, though. These were the sorts of drinks that Emmarie and her friends had ordered on a girl's night out. "I think the view never gets old," she said, inclining her head towards the viewport.

'I know," the Andorian responded, "I just wish my cabin had one. I could just sit for hours and watch things.

"Some day," Emmarie said, nodding to herself. "Perhaps you should find a hot department head to knock boots with, and then you can spend all your free time with them." She took another drink from her glass, not remembering when the last time she'd had real alcohol had been. Oh. Yeah. Hayden. Perhaps that memory wasn't so worthwhile after all... This one can be better.

"I don't believe I've heard that particular term before," Keval admitted, "but it is an amusing one. But, I'll bite. which department head do you think I should knock boots with?" He took a rather generous sip and continued to hld the glass in his hand.

"I don't know," Emmarie said, an it was clear from her tone that she wish she did. "Unfortunately I haven't met most of them yet." These were the sorts of speculations that entertained her the most, and she made a mental note to get her knowledge up to snuff. "I'll take a look at the personnel records and figure something out. You're alright with the pink ones?"

"Oh, I have nothing against pink ones, but I've never knocked boots with one. The blue ones are more my style."

"How many blue ones are on the ship?" she asked curiously. There wasn't a considerable amount of room for diversity on a ship Galileo's size, but sometimes Starfleet tried to ensure that individuals had others of their race aboard.

"I'm afraid, we may have is a failure to communicate, "Keval said with a smile. perhaps its my human upbringing that's at fault. You meant pink ones according to race, I meant them according to gender."

"Ooooh..." Emmarie said, coming to a realization. "The female Andorians and I at the Academy would call humans pink skins," she explained. "But... I can understand that making matters a bit difficult for you. Such a small percentage of a ship's crew could be Andorian, and then to be male and interested in men?" She shook her head rather sadly. "That must be difficult for you."

"Yes, I understand the reference, I was just adopted by a human family so I tend not to refer to them like that. And I have no problems in being with a man who's not Andorian, and there are plenty of them on this ship that share that same orientation. The trouble is they're either taken, or are only looking for a quick fu, sex. There's nothing wrong with sex mind you, but I just prefer a relationship to go along with it."

Emmarie shrugged. There was definitely a time when she was more interested in relationships. At the moment, she wasn't sure what she was looking for... if anything. "Relationships are definitely hard in Starfleet. With all the transfers and such, it can be difficult to find someone who wants a relationship that hasn't already found one. You seem nice, though. I think you'll find someone."

Keval smiled at the compliment, but he was not sure how accurate her assessment of his situation was. "Well I hope you're right but so far I've pretty much struck out in that department, but perhaps we could talk about something else.

You are quite beautiful did anyone ever tell you that?"

"Most men I meet," Emmarie said, shrugging a bit. "But thank you, I appreciate the compliment. It's good to know that people who aren't trying to get in my pants think highly of me." She finished up her Daiquiri and debated ordering another one.

"No, I'm not trying to get into you pants, I'm not sure I'd even be able to. uh yeah maybe we better not go there. I know this sounds like a come on lie, but I would never use it for that. Well there was this one time on Risa, this cute human desk clerk,but that was a long time ago.

Anyway I'm a painter. I'd like to paint you sometime if that's okay."

"Most people aren't at one extreme or the other, from what I've seen," Emmarie said. "As for painting, what sort are you thinking?" She'd never been a model before, but the idea appealed to her inner sense of vanity.

"Well I can't say I've ever experimented before, but who knows what may happen in the future. As for the paining, well I'd let that be your choice. Whatever you're comfortable with. I was thinking more of a traditional portrait but I'm not opposed to... something more free form."

"I like freeform," Emmarie said. "I'm accommodating. You're the artist. I'm open for whatever you think is artistic."

"Well then free form it is. When is a good time for you?"

"How about tomorrow, after our shifts?" Emmarie asked.

"That sounds good to me." Keval answered, How about dinner first?"

"Perfect!" Emmarie said. It looked as though she was on her way to making her first friend aboard the Galileo.

OFF:

Lieutenant JG Emmarie
Assistant Chief of Operations

CPO Keval zh'Erinov
Operations

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