Tall Tales

Posted on Sun Dec 15th, 2019 @ 7:06pm by Lieutenant Commander T'Par

Mission: Promenade
Location: Arcana Lounge
Timeline: Shoreleave
2193 words - 4.4 OF Standard Post Measure

As the hours ticked by into the late afternoon, a crowd of familiar faces began to filter in through the door at Arcana Lounge. The general hum of conversation mixed in with the clinking of glassware against the smooth wooden surface of the bar. Food and drink were being consumed in generous portions. The mood was light as the Majestic had arrived at Poseidon Station. Her crew had been afforded some well earned shoreleave.

"So, what's it gonna be, Lily?"

"Hello again, Kev! You know those really tall steins you have up there?"

"Yeah. One liter. The real thing too, handmade, not replicated."

"So how flexible are you on your rule that they only come out on special occasions?"

"I feel like you're about to ask for a favor."

"Well... when you put it that way," Sullivan paused for a moment. "So uh, how've you been lately? You look well! Life's been treating you well I hope."

"Very funny, Sullivan, but you're gonna have to try harder than that," the bartender didn't even look up as he continued to clean some copper mugs.

"Okay, okay, geeze, can't a girl make conversation?" Lily grinned, knowing her friend was giving her a hard time. "Can I pretty, pretty, please with cherries and whipped cream and chocolate drizzle on top get one of those with an amber ale?"

Out of sight, the sound of glassware sliding closer to her across the bar caught her attention. Knowing that the order was coming, the staff at Arcana had stashed the mug away in a cooler to ensure it would be ready. The second bartender working that evening had starting pouring as soon as the discourse began.

Reflexively, Lilith stuck her hand out and palmed the stein to stop it without spilling a drop of the precious liquid inside.

"You guys are just the best," she gushed.

"Yeah and don't forget it," the bartender looked up for a moment from his work and finally cracked a grin. "Check the side of it, Lil'."

A monogram of her initials had been laser etched into the mug.

"Well if that isn't the sweetest thing! Thanks you guys."

Taking her personalized beverage container with her, Lilith took a seat at an unoccupied booth and mulled over the food options for a moment.

Wilfred walked in with Sadie on his arm. He could really get used to this . . . and he guessed that now he really should. He had been thinking about things and well . . . he was going to ask her to marry him when the moment was right. "Kind of amazing that a starship has a place like this. So glad I got posted here, for more than one reason," Wilfred said with a small sigh.

"Me too," Sadie said, "and Im glad I walked in on you in sickbay back then..." She spotted the flight boss sitting all by herself. "Your friend seems a little...by her lonesome there. want to join her?"

"Sure." Wilfred said, though he didn't feel so sure. Still, he didn't want Lily to spend the evening alone. He briefly wondered where her girlfriend was before noticing that Sadie was tugging him forward.

"Hi," Sadie greeted, her arm firmly hooked through Wilfred's. "Can we join you?"

"Well look at the happy couple!" Sullivan beamed as they approached. "You both look amazing, I love your hair Sadie. Wilfred cleans up alright too, doesn't he?" she winked.

The red-head nurse blushed at that comment. "Oh he does," she finally admitted.

"Well come on, have a seat with your pal Lil'. I was just contemplating what to order for food, but there's nothing like a little bit of company and conversation to go with it. How have you been? Is shoreleave treating you well so far?"

"Yeah," Wilfred said, being his usual talkative self. He was going to let Sadie tell people about their surprise. It wasn't his place to say anything.

"I've been sick for a few days," Sadie explained as they sat down, paling a little around the nose at the very idea of food. She looked over at Wilfred. "Or at least i thought I was sick... turns out this is somewhat of a uh..long term condition Im afraid." She smirked a little, hoping Wilfred at least saw she was teasing them.

Mimicking a Vulcan eyebrow raise to the best of her ability, Lilith paused mid-sip as the realization dawned upon her. She placed her right hand over her mouth to keep from spewing beer all over her conversation mates. Forcing her drink the proper way down her digestive tract, she uncovered her mouth and glanced excitedly between Wilfred and Sadie.

"Holy s---! No way! When? How?" Sullivan crinkled her nose, lowering her voice to keep from drawing too much attention to their table. "I mean, I know how, but anyway, huge congratulations! Is it a secret? Or I am about to buy everyone in this bar a round?"

"I'd say the how is pretty obvious," Sadie laughed, nudging Wilfred as they watched the pilot nearly choke on her drink. "Is it a secret?" she asked him, not really sure how or even if she could keep the news to herself.

"No! I just figured you might want to tell it. I mean it is your body so I didn't want to over step . . . . anything." He guessed that was an okay thing to say. Wilfred was still in shock to be perfectly honest. Deliriously happy but shocked.

"Well it's certainly your news to share, and thanks for sharing it with me. I'm so excited for you two. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help later down the road," Lily replied, waving the waiter away after having completely forgotten about the menu. "Have you decided if you're going to raise a child on the ship?"

"It's our baby," Sadie said gently, "mutual decision. Yes it is my body but it's your news too." She was still smiling. The news had come as a shock to her too, but she too was happy. She looked back at Lily. "On the ship seems likely as we're both assigned here."

Wilfred nodded. "Yeah, I mean I don't care about my career that much but if she wants to stay here then yeah . . . . seems like the thing to do. And I don't care if people know."

"Don't be silly," Sadie said softly, "you should care about you career and once this little one is born we'll have to discuss it. I go where you go."

Lilith sat on her side of the booth and wiped away a few tears of happiness before they could stream down her cheeks. The initial shock had faded away into a tidal wave of emotion. Taking a pitcher of water, she poured two glasses and placed them down on coasters in front of her friends. She raised her own glassware and made a toast.

"Cheers to the happy couple. I drink to the health and well being of your child, and," Sullivan grinned, "I'll have a second sip because you, young lady, are not allowed to have any drinks for quite a while."

Wilfred privately thought that he would have liked to have a couple of sips too. "Shall we have a seat?" He asked Sadie but didn't wait to for her to speak before he sat down. "What are you drinking?" He asked Lily. "Hopefully you won't overdo it this time." He rubbed his head remembering the spot that Alanzo had hit him on the had as he ran by naked.

Drumming her fingers against the outside of the stein, Lily spun the vessel around so that the engraving was visible to her friends. The condensation left a ring of water behind on the coaster as she lifted up her drink to take another sip of the amber liquid inside. "Just the amber lager," she explained with a small, satisfied grin. "And don't worry, I'm taking it easy tonight. Just the one. Plus that stupid piece of alien tech is out of my head, so hopefully there's no crazy, unfiltered emotions spilling out everywhere tonight."

"Well there has to be an underlying basis for whatever excessive behavior people exhibited right?" Sadie offered. "I never had one of those things." She chuckled a little. "Probably wasn't interesting enough for them."

"You think so?" Wilfred asked her. "You mean those people already liked each other and the device just helped them on?" He looked at Lily because well obviously she'd had one and she'd had it removed and she'd began a relationship while she had it in her brain.

"I think so yes," Sadie confirmed, "though I'm not certain. My theory is that for something like that to really work, there have to be underlying feelings. How it made things worse for those that experienced other things, I honestly haven't got a clue or even a hypothesis. But as I said I'm not certain. I can't speak from personal experience because I never had one."

The expecting parents' conversation wafted through the air, blending in and becoming back of the ambient noise to the other guests of the lounge who were deep in discussion themselves. For her part, Lily stayed engaged and kept listening to her friends though she kept rather mum, almost as if she were contemplating some other thought in the back of her mind.

"Yeah," Sullivan nodded, "I probably should have that conversation soon with Cassie. Now that I'm clear headed, I know that my feelings about us are genuine, but it would still be nice to has out everything and know exactly where we stand if that makes sense. I'm probably overthinking it," she snorted and pursed her lips.

T'Par entered the lounge with her usual precise stride. She glanced towards the table where the small group had gathered. She briefly recalled her recent conversation with Lieutenant Sullivan and she offered a small nod of her head.

"T'Par!" Lilith waved to the Vulcan officer. "If you're not otherwise occupied, please come sit with us. We're just shooting the breeze, to use an Earth colloquialism."

"I'm familiar with it. Breeze being early twentieth century American slang for idle talk," T'Par said entirely too precisely as she made her way over and settled into a seat. "Is everyone well?"

Wilfred nodded and gave T'Par a half wave of his hand, not sure how to greet such a person. His nervousness took over again as she was a female he was not very familiar with.

"As well as can be," Sadie replied with a smile, while reaching to squeeze Wilfred's hand. "Just pregnant." She didnt offer her hand but waved anyway. "Hi, I'm Sadie."

"Hello, Sadie," T'Par said with a small nod of her head.

"Now that the whole gang is together, what sort of shenanigans are you planning to get into during leave? I read that the station is orbiting a planet, and I hear the locals allow us to visit and spend time there if idling by large bodies of water under the heat of a star is something you're into," Lilith pursed her mouth and raised her eyebrows as if she had just come to some sort of decision herself.

Wilfred shrugged. If Sadie wanted to go he would follow. "I plan on sleeping," he said honestly. "And maybe some exploring." He gave no details as to what kind of exploring or where he was headed.

"I'd like to visit the station," Sadie said, "though I'm not against staying home and just sleeping a lot. Especially with feeling so sick in the morning."

"Aw, I'm sorry Sadie. Hopefully you get some time and are feeling well enough to go exploring a bit. I gotta admit, now that I've had a second or two to process, this whole thing kinda happened quickly, huh? I guess when you know it's right, you just... know," Sullivan shrugged her shoulders as she took another swig from her stein. "Oh, and since we're all friends now, I want this to go without saying, but I'll say it anyway so it's on record with a witness," she lightly nudged T'Par in the side. "If you need any help with anything down the line, call me. It doesn't matter what time it is, I'll do my best to be there for you."

"We didn't exactly plan this no," the young nurse answered, though she did smile happily, "but to me it's rather welcome news. It didn't upset me or anything."

Wilfred had been grateful for that. He wasn't really upset either. Surprised, but not upset. Somehow, despite all his flaws he liked the idea of being a father. He would be a much better father than his father had been to him.

"Well, we've got good company and the best possible excuse so what do you say we get some food? It's on me," Lily beamed. "Time to celebrate my friends."

---

Lieutenant Lilith Sullivan
Chief Flight Control Officer

Ensign Wilfred Wexler
Brig Officer

PO2 Sadie Sage
Nurse
pnpc Lhaes

Lieutenant T'Par
CIO