You Hate Crowds Too???

Posted on Sun Jan 23rd, 2022 @ 3:41pm by Lieutenant Commander Rin

Mission: Season 5: Episode 3: CAPETOWN
Location: USS Elysium, Paddy's Loft
Timeline: MD 11 / 1634 hours
999 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

Rin sat at the bar, scrolling through a PaDD. She had promised herself a while ago not to drink alone in her room. So when she needed a drink, she came here, so she could theoretically drink with other people.

And today she needed a drink. So a glass of cheap scotch sat next to her which she readily sipped.

A few moments later, a quiet brunette came into the pub, thankfully it wasn't too crowded yet, and moved to the bar. She saw only one seat open, next to another woman, who was reading a PADD and nursing a scotch. "Excuse me, is that seat taken?"

Rin looked at the chair, scooting her own slightly away to make more room. "Nope. Feel free."

"Thank you," the woman said with a shy smile. After she sat, she ordered a Filthy, dirty, vodka martini, straight up, with three olives. She then looked over to the woman seated next to her and said, "Hi, my name's Debra. What's yours?"

Rin smiled. It was always easiest when someone else started a conversation. She shut down the PaDD. "Rin, good to meet you."

Debra smiled. "It's nice to meet you too." Her drink arrived and she took a sip. The actual alcohol swirling over her tongue and down her throat made her close her eyes and sigh quietly. When she opened her eyes again, she looked at Rin, not commenting on the obvious Borg implants, as that would be rude. Instead, she asked, "How long have you been on the Elysium?"

"8 days. I'm the new Chief of Intelligence. Transferred from USS Mississippi. Still getting to know my way around. The size of Elysium is, well, rather... opulent? And this is where I hope you're not a ship designer."

Debra grinned and chuckled softly. "No, I'm not a ship designer. I'm in Strat Ops. I just tranferred over from Cheron Station, so, the Elysium is much smaller. Heh!" She looked at Rin again, thinking how pretty her eyes were. "Chief Intel, very impressive! I'm sure we will be working on several issues in the future."

Debra was finding talking with this woman to be very comf and safe. She couldn't put her finger on it, but, she felt that she had nothing to fear from the person.

"Oh! I originally trained in tactical operations, had an eye on strategic ops. So, yes, we should definitely be coordinating. Not a lot of ships have fully separate strategic, intel and tactical divisions. It's one of the things I'll still getting used to. Moving to Elysium is a promotion in and of itself."

Seeing Rin smile, Debra thought that she was real pretty when she did so, hoping there would be reason to see her smile more. "It's more a lateral shift, for me. I probably won't be promoted to full commander until someone else retires and opens up a slot."

"If you were promoted, where would you like to see yourself?"

Shrugging slightly, Debra shook her head. "I'm happy where I am. I prefer working numbers than dealing with big groups of people. With the information that I work with in Strat Ops, I find organizing reports of fleet and ship movements much more comforting than, say, a staff meeting." Looking over at Rin, she smiled softly. "What about you?"

"I'm the least ambitious officer in Starfleet. I just want to be useful. Need to be useful, really. A promotion just indicates I've succeeded at that, and gives me more opportunities to better apply myself."

Nodding thoughtfully, Debra was silent for a moment. Then, after she took another sip of her cocktail, said, "I understand that feeling. I'd rather be left alone, so I can do the work."

Glass empty, Rin ordered two purple starfuckers, bright purple drinks in shot glasses. She downed one and offered the other to Debra.

"Always being alone with the work isn't healthy. Thus....me, at a bar, hiding behind a PaDD." She indicated the half-forgotten device on her lap. "Doing the work, alone, is easy. It's comfortable. It's productive. It's something to hide in."

Nodding, Debra replied. "If I hide in the work, then I can't do anything to make myself look stupid. Like fawn over a man that I will never have." She sighed as she absentmindedly twirled the olives in her drink.

"Are you at least able to be friends?"

She shrugged slightly. "Oh, we are friendly. In so much as he has never been rude in any way to me. Whenever we has spoken, he has always been both engaging and possessing of a grin that just makes me melt." She sighed softly when she thought about Kyle and his dreamy eyes and rougish grin.

"Are you looking for commentary from a person you just met at a bar?"

Debra suddenly blushed heavily, from embarrassment. "Oh...um...n-no." She stammered slightly. "I..uh...I mean, I originally just c-came in for a drink. Then, you s-seemed like a nice person to t-talk to...." She suddenly felt very stupid. "I'm...I'm sorry for disturbing your evening." She turned and quickly started to leave the bar, bumping into a few people as she did so.

Rin hadn't meant to embarrass the woman. It had been an honest question: she wasn't sure if Debra was merely venting or if she was looking for some sort of feedback.

And she wasn't likely to have appreciated the feedback. Rin didn't understand the way adults swooned over each other as Debra seemed to be doing. She understood people could feel very strong emotions for each other but this...this sounded like a schoolgirl crush coming from a lt. commander.

And her exit was just so weird.

She looked back to the bartender, back again to Debra, back to the bartender again, and gave a small WTF shrug. She knocked back the ignored shot she had offered Debra and slid off the stool, intent on returning to her quarters.

~OFF~