The Cortez Intro

Posted on Mon Mar 18th, 2019 @ 4:27am by Avalon [ADMIN NPC]

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Timeline: Current?
1369 words - 2.7 OF Standard Post Measure

On:

Eira had only arrived at the star base only a few days beforehand and was sitting outside one of the cafes on the promenade eating a scone and drinking the herbal tea she had come to appreciate over the last few months. Green tea with lavender and a hint of chamomile, the tiniest amount of sugar and no milk. Her therapist had suggested it to help her try and relax and get some sleep as she integrated back into normal life.

She looked over the PaDD she had been given with her new assignment: Encryption Specialist aboard the newly minted USS Elysium. It’s what she was trained to do, and hopefully she would never have to answer to the question of “We’ve got an assignment for you that involves going undercover and gathering this, this and this, do you want to accept it?”. Not after everything that went down on the Hawaii and losing Aidan. Eira moved the hair out of her face and was so lost in her own thoughts that she failed to see that someone was watching her until she looked up.

Chief Petty Officer Ken Waters realized that he had been caught staring. But he did not flinch, studying her as he did from a nearby table. On the contrary, he narrowed his eyes, as if doubling-down on his voyeurism. "Can I ask you something?" he called over to her.

"I guess so?" She answered back, raising an eyebrow at the question. She had no idea who this person was but was happy to chat with them.

Ken stood up from his table and came over to hers, taking the seat opposite her. He raised a finger, getting the attention of a passing server. "I'll take a bourbon." He pointed to Eira. "And she'll have...?"

Eira smiled politely and looked at the green tea she'd been drinking just before: it had gone cold from the amount of time it had been sitting there untouched, and she didn't like drinking it cold. "I'll have a bourbon too, on the rocks though, please." She was still confused as to why he had come over to talk to her, "Sorry, but who are you?" It was polite but straight to the point.

Her newfound companion responded with a single finger held between them. "So here's my question," he pressed on. "How do you know if you're in love with someone? Like, actually in love." He squeezed his hands in the air in front of him, as if grabbing love. "How can you be sure that you're not just addicted to all the other stuff. Their unbelievably sexy voice. Their intoxicating sexy perfume. The sex."

"Um.. I've never been in love before, so I couldn't tell you.." Eira's tone was more shocked than anything at the abruptness of his questioning, but also slightly curious. Was this guy trying to hit on her?! "But I assume you're talking about someone in particular, am I right?"

"What?" Ken asked, almost surprised by her question. "No. No one at all," he lied.

"Bourbon." Their server announced, setting the two drinks down between them.

Ken snatched his up, placing the ice cold surface of the glass to his forehead. "Okay look, the truth is I just got back together with someone I've been on and off again with, and now I'm suddenly thinking about..." his voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper "...marriage."

Eira cradled hers in her hands, swirling the liquid around and over the ice, "Well she, or he, would be completely lucky to have you as their guy." She offered a smile and took a sip from the glass, "Care to share some details?"

"Sure," Ken said, falling back into his chair with a relieved sigh. Just speaking his worries out loud felt like a huge weight lifted off his chest. "She's a starship captain, actually," he told her, taking a drink of his own.

Eira feigned shock at the mention of this guys love interests position, "Wow, nicely done. How does that even work for you? Do you keep it on the low or what?" She laughed a bit and slipped the drink in front of her; after 3 years of not drinking anything but water and the basics, this just tasted foreign and slightly bitter.

"Sort of, at first, yeah. It was a bit of a secret," he admitted. "But I think everyone believed the rumors of us being together before we actually even started dating." He couldn't help but interrupt himself, smiling as he watched her. "Everything alright with that drink?"

"Ha, I don't really drink.. this is the first bit of alcohol I've had in about four years or so?" Eira responded as she swirled the drink around the glass again, "Circumstances required that I was to be focused on the job at hand at all times, and I honestly don't miss it. But even before that, I wouldn't really drink unless it was a special occasion, if you get what I mean?" She must have sounded like a complete weirdo to him.

He gave her a deep nod. "I can respect that," he assured her. "Which just means we need to find a special occasion to tie this drink to. You got anything? Nearby birthday? First place in the Deep Space 9 dance competition?"

Eira nodded and looked down, her cheeks tinging pink with embarrassment before looking him straight in the eyes, “if I tell you, you need to promise not to laugh at it.” She saw the nod and continued in a lower voice, “it’s my 30th birthday tomorrow.. I haven’t celebrated since I was eighteen because I didn’t have anyone to celebrate it with.”

Ken started with an exaggerated jolt. "You're -- you're kidding?" he stammered. He studied her face, looking for some sort of tell. And when he couldn't find one he cracked a wide smile. "You're not kidding! Well, this is -- this is -- Happy Birthday!" He raised his glass in a toast. "To my new friend..." he left the blank space for her name hanging in the air.

"It's Eira, or just Cortez." The pinkness in her cheeks changed to a deep shade of red, she wasn't used to receiving so much attention but in a strange way after all these years of being alone it actually felt good to have someone making a big deal of something as insignificant as a birthday. Eira raised her glass and toasted to it. It suddenly hit her that she was going to be saying goodbye to being 20-something and she was getting older, "Oh wow, I'm getting old."

Ken waved her concerns away with a dismissive hand. "You're not even on long range sensors for those kinds of worries, believe me," he assured her. "Seriously. You look great. You've got a great smile. You can keep up a conversation, and you've got great taste in strange men, probably the best I've seen."

"Strange men? Hmmmm?" Eira raised her eyebrow "And you do realise that you haven't even said who you are yet either, right?"

He set his drink down and wiped the condensation from his hand across the breast of his shirt before it extending it out to her, offering a handshake. "Ken Waters. Or just Ken."

“Nice to meet you, Ken.” She smiled, wanting to actually get to know the seemingly charming guy in front of her but also not wanting to let her guard down completely. “What are your plans for the rest of the day and evening, seeing your Captain no doubt?” The glint in her eye showed she was only teasing.

He waved the suggestion away with a hand, "Phoenix? I'm sure she'll be much too busy with --" he puffed up his chest "-- OFFICIAL STARFLEET BUSINESS." His chest deflated just as dramatically, and he stood up from his chair extending a hand to her. "I'm not ready to turn in just yet. Care to join me for a walk around the promenade? Get to know this place a bit? Who knows when we'll back here again."

OFF:

OOC This was posted as the player playing Cortez has left the game.