A new game with new friends

Posted on 21 Jul 2017 @ 7:32am by Ensign Mimi & Petty Officer 2nd Class Alex Kuznetzov

1,154 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Uss Atlirith - Lounge
Timeline: MD -01

ON:

"Come on Will get your head out of the clouds, do you need another card or not." Debbie Larson said as she rearranged the cards in her hand.

"I'm thinking Debbie, hold on." Will replied looking at his hand while he summed up the risks. "No, I'll stick." he finally said.

"Ok. What about you Alex?" Debbie asked the tables other occupant, one of their passengers from the Galileo.

Alex looked at his cards. Not bad hand but not a guaranteed winner. "Stay." he remarked. He wasn't the best cards player but this game he understood. "Thanks for letting me sit in guys. It's nice being back around fleeters and starfleet sterile."

"No worries Alex." Debbie replied "From what we hear happened to the Galileo I bet you're glad to be back." She paused and picked another card from the deck her face turning sour. "ahh bust." she dropped her cards down on the table.

"Yeah. I am. Of course highers up put that whole NDA thing on the crew so I can't talk about it. But it wasn't an undercover mission or anything cloak & dagger, just bad luck on our part to be where we were, when we were." He glanced at Debbie's cards, so far so good.

"What do you have then Alex?" Will asked and placed his cards face up on the table. "I've seveteen."

Alex placed his cards down. "Sixteen. I had Debbie beat, then she maxed out."

"I took a gamble and it'd didn't pay off." Debbie collected all the cards and gave them a good shuffle. "Another hand?"

On the next table Mimi sat sipping at a cup of tea and reading from a Padd, she kept glancing across at the trio on the table opposite watching the card game they were playing, it seemed easy enough and since Splendora had died she had no one to teach her new games.

Dropping the Padd back into her pocket she approached the table. "Excuse me. Could I join you, I'm interested in this game you're playing."

Alex glanced up, seeing a familiar face staring down at him. Who could miss her, the unique cat like but not quite Caitian features of the young operations officer. He smiled at her, "I think we could, grab a seat." He turned to the others, "This is Mimi, a coworker from the Galileo."

Will looked at Debbie who nodded slightly. "No complaints from us, welcome to the game Mimi. I'm Will, this is Debbie."

"Thank you." Mimi placed her cup down and grabbed a chair. "I know how these cards work but I do not know this game but it does seem very simple."

"It is simple." Debbie replied. "The goal is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. You start with 2 cards and can have up to 5."

Mimi nodded. "Simple enough."

Smiling Debbie shuffled the card deck one last time. "Ok, let me deal you in." She dealt out two cards to each player and two for herself.

Will glanced over his cards, Six and Nine, not bad. "It's pretty easy. Gives us time to shoot the breeze, catch up in things. Tease Debbie." he remarked with a grin.

Alex looked at the cards he's been given. Seven and a Four. Definitely would need another card.

Debbie looked at her cards. Three and Eight, not good enough. She ignored Wills comment and turned to Mimi. "Now take a look at your cards and if you think you're close enough to 21 to not take the risk of going over then you say you're going to 'stick' or 'stay'. If you think you need another card then you tell whoever is dealing the cards."

"Ok." Mimi checked her cards. a Jack and a two. "I will need another card."

"Sure." Debbie passed Mimi another card.

Looking at the card Mimi frowned. it was a King. "I have gone over twenty one."

Alex looked to Debbie, "Hit me."

Debbie passed Alex a card and took one for herself too: a ten "I've bust."

Alex took the card, King, making a perfect 21. He glanced over at Will. "Hit or Stay?"

"I'll stay." Will finally said, he placed his cards face up on the table. "Fifteen."

Alex grinned, "Three, Eight, King." he said, placing his cards down on the table. "Payback for yesterday Will," he remarked, referring to a round in which Will had bluffed his way to a win with a pair of aces.

Will laughed "I will get you next time Alex."

"And that is it, the game is over and Alex has won?" Mimi asked.

"Nope," Alex remarked simply. "I won the hand. We'll keep playing as many hands as people want, probably until the late evening. I don't have a shift so I'll hang around. Debbie has the Alpha shift so she'll probably bail early. She usually does."

Mimi nodded "So you just play until you do not want to play anymore. Do you know any other card games?"

Alex looked up at her. "I know a few others but I think we play this one because it's simple and easy to get in and out. At least it was on the Galileo." He looked to Will, wondering if his assumption was correct.

"It is a very easy game, simple mathematics." Will replied then turned to Mimi. "Does your species not have any games like this?

"Not that I remember." Mimi answered. "Most of the games we had were things like... One Nekomi chases several others, if they catch one it is their turn to chase."

"Tag," Alex remarked, "We have something like it on earth. Way I remember it if you got tagged you also couldn't tag the person back who'd tagged you."

"We had a similar... rule. I was very good at the game when I was younger." Mimi thought back to when she was very young. "All Nekomi are very quick so it is very hard to catch us."

Alex nodded, "I would think so." Glancing up and down her a little he really actually noticed her for the first time, the small lither body, the cat like grace to how she carried herself. Reminded him a lot of Caitians and he'd dated one in highschool. ~Wonder if she's got a guy?~ he asked himself.

"Ready for another hand?" Debbie said after collecting all the cards up and reshuffling them.

"Sure." Mimi replied then stood up. "Let me get another drink first, do any of you want one?"

Both Will and Debbie shook their heads.

"I'm okay thank you Mimi." As she walked off, Alex found his eyes drifting to her shapely curves, the gentle swish of her tail as she walked over to the replicator. He definitely would have to ask her out, and not just because she was a sexy looking little kitten.

OFF:

Ensign Mimi
Operations Officer

PO2 Alexander Kuznetzov
Engineer
npc Drew

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