Work or Play
Posted on Thu Aug 15th, 2019 @ 8:26am by
Edited on on Thu Aug 15th, 2019 @ 9:27am
Mission:
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Location: USS Majestic, Song Theater
Timeline: MD06, 1930
2640 words - 5.3 OF Standard Post Measure
"What the..."
Tucked into a seat in the last row of the dimly lit Song Theater, Lily woke with a start, unsure of how much time had passed since her encounter with Commander Murphy. The music had stopped and both the band and the smoke had disappeared from view. In the darkness, she reached into her pocket and tapped the screen of her PADD to wake it from its slumber. Please, please, please, she thought to herself, too afraid to open an eye and check the time.
19:34
The dread of uncertainty gave way to a massive sigh of relief; she had only dozed off for half an hour. Whisky still on her breath, she began to extricate herself from the nest she had built, remembering just in time that some expensive glassware was lurking somewhere in the vicinity of her feet. Sullivan reached down and collected her belongings before inching her way towards the exit.
It was at that exact moment that the doors swished open, a blinding column of light flooded the theater, and a shadow seemed to cross over the threshold.
Cassie entered the theater, just wanting to find somewhere quiet to read. The lounge was too loud, and her quarters were still a mess, as she still hadn't finished unpacking what seemed to be a mountain of clothes, for work or otherwise. She noticed someone was already occupying the place, but couldn't see them clearly, as the doors had already closed behind her.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know someone was already here..." she stammered, turning to leave.
"Ah! The light, it burns!" Sullivan exclaimed halfheartedly in her semi-conscious state. "No, don't mind me. I was just on the way out. It's all yours stranger."
I recognize that voice, Cassie thought as her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the theater. "Hi. What are you doing here, Lilith?" she asked before noticing the liquor bottle and the two glasses. "And what happened to your drinking buddy?"
"Oh, I know you, you're no stranger - you're Cassie. Hello friend, it's good to see you again," Lily smiled before holding up the bottle. "You see this here? This is a Macallan 25, one of the finest cask aged whiskies made on Earth. I invited someone to have a drink, but that someone? Turns out that he doesn't drink anymore, and I don't think I succeeded in making him my buddy."
Cassie wrinkled her nose in response. "Aw, I'm sorry to hear that. It sucks when things don't go the way you want them to." She got Lilith to make eye contact with her. "You're going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'm kinda bummed out to be honest. I may or may not have fallen asleep listening to one of the jazz programs in the computer, but enough about me, what's up with you?"
Cassie chuckled; she could relate. How many times had she fallen asleep a chair or couch somewhere, just listening to music? "I just wanted to find somewhere quiet to get away from work and crates full of clothes," she said, holding up an old and battered of her favourite novel. She had read it so many times the front cover was missing. "So here I am, procrastinating."
"Oh my goodness, I don't want to talk about unpacking. I literally just got done with that before I came down here," Lily replied, trying to forget the entire incident. "I've haven't been reading anything recently, what are you reading now?"
"Nicky Drayden, The Prey of Gods. Written in the early 21st century. It never became a science-fiction or a fantasy classic, but it has superhuman beings and robots in it. What's not to like?" she smiled innocently.
"Uh, check and check," Sullivan ticked the air twice.
"Can I tell you a secret?" Cassie asked, before lightly placing a hand on Lilith's shoulder and bringing her lips next to her ear, so close their cheeks where almost brushing. "I stole it from my sister," she whispered, as if it had been the most exciting crime in the world.
The proximity between them caught Lily off guard for a moment. She got a healthy dose of the toasted loveliness from the scotch on her own breath blowing back to her. "Phew, sorry Cassie we'll get back to your little rebellious streak in a second, but first, I need to apologize. It smells like I took a oak stave, covered it in marshmallow paste, set the whole thing on fire, and put it out in my mouth."
Cassie waved off the comment. "Don't worry about it. I've smelled worse, trust me. Bad champagne breath smells like like little old ladies who've smoked their whole lives try to hide that smell by bathing in perfume. This is actually quite pleasant in comparison."
"Yeah, it's actually one of the best I've ever had. It was a gift, I'll tell you that story some day, but seeing how you told me one of your deepest, darkest secrets, I guess it's my turn, huh? Here, why don't you have a seat?"
"Indeed," Cassie replied, implying both that she would sit and that it was Lilith's turn to tell a secret. She sat down next to Lilith, took her shoes off, and put her feet on the back of the seat in front of her. No one else was here, and no one else was going to know, right? She had the right to make herself comfortable once in a while, and those seats were comfortable.
"So, I'm feeling pretty good," Lily held up the bottle which was missing a finger or two's worth of liquid from the top. "Loose lips, sunken ships, and all that jazz but hey - we're both new and women have to have each other's back, right? Plus, I get a good read off of people usually, and you seem like the trustworthy type."
"Why, thank you," Cassie replied, flattered. "And you're right, we should have each other's backs, especially when we're about to get tipsy." She then made a motion with her hand indicating that Lilith should get on with it. "But you were about to tell a story."
"Alright, alright! I'm getting to it, geeze!" There was a certain inebriated playfulness to Sullivan's voice. "I haven't told anyone this, but like three days ago, I met the Captain's dad sitting at the bar in Arcana trying to drown his sorrows away. I think he was hoping I would sleep with him out of pity, but that's not the important part." Lily shifted in her seat to within whispering distance. "I'm like, ninety nine percent sure I saw him with Hak's mom the next morning! Ahhh!"
Cassie's eyes went wide, her mouth dropped open, and she covered it in surprise. "For real?" She thought about it for a second. "Well, that would explain things. I met him during lunch, and he was telling me that he made a total fool of himself trying to flirt with, and I quote, 'with a pretty young lady who started talking to me and it turned out she didn't know who I was'. That was you?"
"Yo man, totally not my fault I didn't recognize him," Sullivan objected with a shrug. "All I know is what I saw. And morning bedhead is oh so easy to spot in the middle of a sea of cookie cutter, cut and paste uniforms and hairdos. But yeah, dude was old enough to be my dad. That's a hard no."
She laughed at the revelation, and she was completely sober. "He was probably double-drowning his sorrows in Hak's mother's arms, then. Ah, mais putain... I need a drink. Do you mind?"
"I thought you'd never ask. Yes please, feel free," Lily handed the bottle over. "And one for me too while you're at it. Have a seat in ol' Doc Sullivan's chair right there and ease ya mind a little. What's up?"
"This has been bugging me since yesterday. Why is Stef's arm in a sling? Couldn't he just have it fixed?" she asked, pouring Lilith, then herself a finger of whiskey. She treated it like she treated her wine: she swirled it in the glass, breathed it in its beautiful, oaken scent, took a sip, let it sit in her mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. Unlike most whiskey, which made her feel like her throat was burning, this went down very smoothly. It almost had a creamy quality to it. "That thing is delectable. Hmm."
"Takes twenty five years to get it right. I've had the twelve year before and it's fabulous, don't get me wrong, but this twenty-five is something else," Lily nodded between sip of her own drink. "Still can't believe Murphy didn't have any," she grumbled. "Anyway, I digress, you were saying something about Stef?"
"His arm. It's in a sling. What's up with that?"
"Mmm, yeah, I don't know why he wouldn't just have it fixed. Before you joined us last night at dinner, I think he mentioned that he got, and I quote, 'into an argument' with a desk," Sullivan replied while carefully miming air quotes with her hands. There was no use in crying over spilt milk, but spilt whisky was an entirely different conundrum. "I'm no shrink, but how does a Vulcan get pushed to the point where he punches a desk. Must've been pretty personal."
Cassie pursed her lips. "I don't know. Pon Farr? No, he would have been delirious by now trying to find a mate. And he wasn't delirious when we met, so I doubt it's that," she speculated, taking another sip of whiskey. "Maybe he abandoned Surak's teachings and rekindled his relationship with emotions?"
"Is that even a thing? Can Vulcans even do that? And I'm asking out of ignorance because I honestly have no idea. You see, there was a Vulcan pilot who beat my time on what's basically an obstacle course back at the Academy, and I hold his people personally responsible for bruising my ego." Sullivan almost completed the story with a straight face, but a wise-cracking grin had formed by the end of it. She savored the last drops of spirit before she turned back to face her counterpart.
"I moustache you a question," she began, taking the ends of her hair and pinching them between her upper lip and nose. "I. Am. Drunk. Will you walk with me and make sure I make it home and don't fall asleep somewhere embarrassing?"
Cassie grinned in amusement, and mimicked Lilith by pinching a strand of her own hair and pinching it between nose and upper lip. "Yes, you are. And I'd be delighted to walk you home. Wouldn't want you ending up in Mr. Saulitis' quarters now, would we?"
"Oh god, or even worse," Lily replied, beginning to stand up. "Just imagine what would've happened if I had slept with him. I'd have to blow myself out the airlock. No doubt about it."
"You would never live it down. Ever," Cassie assured her before picking up her shoes and the now empty glasses. She offered Lilith her arm. "Shall we?"
"Oh thank you milady," Sullivan accepted, leaning her head ever so slightly over onto Cassie's shoulder. They were within a few centimeters of being the same height, but being shoed versus barefoot tilted the scales in Lily's favor. "I'm sorry I distracted you from your book," she stuck her lip out in a pout, rate of speech slowed by intoxication. Once the non sequiturs began, there would be little to stop them. "Oh, and I'm one thousand percent stealing your shampoo because ohmuhgosh it smells so nice. And the way you dress is nice. Ahhh, you're just awesome Cass, you should know that."
Cassie lightly supported the intoxicated pilot as they exited the theater. She was also a bit tipsy, but not nearly as much as Lilith. "You're drunk, but I'll take it, thank you. Yes, I can fill you a bottle of that shampoo, and yes, you may borrow an outfit when you go out on that hot date with Alta," she teased, giggling.
The theater doors slid open for the two women. They soon found themselves moving towards the turbolift, but suddenly stopped. "What's up?" Cassie asked, slightly worried.
"Wait."
"If you feel like you're going to throw up - " Cassie started, but Lily interrupted her.
"No, hold on a second," Lily stood up straight and pointed.
Cassie looked toward where Lilith was pointing, but the corridor was empty. "You're drunk. I don't see anything," she said, bewildered.
"I'm not that drunk. What the s--- is that?"
A naked man turned the corner and started jogging in the same direction they were going. Cassie thought she recognized him: he had the same short, curly blonde hair, and small spots that went all the way down. Now that she was seeing him from a different, she could take a second to admire his behind. That man was in shape, she thought before regaining her senses.
"I know that guy! I saw him earlier! I'm calling Security," she said just as she was to tap her commbadge.
"No time like the present, shift your ass into gear!" Lily exclaimed, placing her effects on the ground. "Hey, while you're at it, tell security to watch my stuff!"
"As if I'm going to tell them we're running after him!" Cassie protested, but Lilith had already disentangled herself from her and started running after him. Sullivan's inebriated state hindered her speed, but it did not prevent her natural athleticism from winning out in the end. In the blink of an eye, Cassie found herself standing alone in the corridor.
" Ah, mais putain... Wait up!" she yelled before she started running herself. She was certainly not leaving an intoxicated woman to run after a naked man by herself.
"Cassandra Leblanc-Reed!" Faux-astonishment was the soupe du jour. "When this is over I am calling your mother and I am telling! Such a potty mouth!" Lily shook her head as she kept running. "I knew we were going to be friends," she added, looking back with a grin. Cassie had nearly caught up to her.
Together, they kept running in the direction of the streaker, catching small glances of his back side from time to time. The distance between the chasee and the chasers was closing, but soon the duo came to a split in the corridor. They stopped as they approached, taking a moment to catch their wind as they considered their options.
"Okay," Sullivan took a deep breath, clearly still feeling the effects of the alcohol. "There's no turbolifts down either of these corridors, and I don't think there are any other exits. We've got this guy trapped. What do you think we should do next?"
"He can't have gone that far, unless he decided to open a hatch and get in a tube," Cassie hypothesized, thinking how uncomfortable that must be, while catching her breath. "We call Security, and we can split up? Cover more ground?"
"You see this?" Lily pointed at herself, answering the question by not answering. "This is my 'I'm having fun' face."
"We're going to be in so much trouble for this..." Cassie almost whined, and tapped her commbadge. "Cassandra Leblanc to Security. Lieutenant Sullivan and I spotted our streaker on Deck 2. If you'd be so kind to join us there while we go and find him, we'd be eternally grateful," she said before tapping it again, not even waiting for an answer. Deck 2 was rather small, after all. "Shall we?"
TBC:
Lieutenant Lily Sullivan
CFCO
Cassandra Leblanc-Reed
Diplomatic Officer
