The Whisky Introspection

Posted on Thu Sep 14th, 2023 @ 11:07am by Lieutenant Commander Sydney Reid & Staff Warrant Officer N'Vara Eroskar

1,751 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Short Treks
Location: Scotty's Something Green Bar & Grill
Timeline: "First Contact" - 3 Days Prior

[Deck 3 - LCDR Reid's Quarter's]

With a swoosh and a blip of her door closing and locking behind her, Sydney plopped down onto the small sofa beneath the oblong window in her quarters. She'd been on the Intrepid for two weeks and spent nearly every day going through all of the systems to ensure everything was up to the stringent expectations she had. After quickly realizing she wouldn't be easily sated, the Chief Engineer had assigned Staff Warrant Officer N'Vara, an Orion Computer Systems Specialist, to be her primary contact for all of her checks.

The first few days had been a little rough, but the two quickly came to an understanding of each other and found common ground when it came to their professional relationship. While the Ops Chief could be demanding at times, seeking only perfection, the engineer had been able to show that her work was beyond reproach. Most importantly, they both realized they just wanted the same thing, but looked at it from different angles.

Fewer and fewer words were needed as the days stretched on, and soon there was a casualness between the two. While the Chief may have had the rank on the Warrant, Sydney had never been one that reflected her rank in her approach to her peers: a quality N'Vara seemed to both appreciate and return in kind.

The human let out a frustrated groan into the throw pillow as she heard the muffled chime of her commbadge go off. Rolling over to her back, she tapped her badge and answered, =/\= "Reid here." =/\=

=/\= "Hey, Reid, it's N'Vara. Toss on something that wasn't issued to you by Starfleet and meet me in an hour in Scotty's. After what you've put me through the past two weeks, you owe me a drink." =/\=

Sidney was momentarily stunned by both the frankness of the request and the demeanor of the WO before finally responding, =/\= "...Okay. I'll be there." =/\=

=/\= "Good. You need it more than me," =/\= the Orion responded before quickly, "Out,"-ing and leaving the Lieutenant Commander to figure out what was expected of her now. Glancing up towards her bedroom door, Sydney was already mentally going through her closet in an attempt to think what she should wear. It wasn't often she needed civilian attire, and one look by anyone would tell them it wasn't a situation she really worried about…

---

[Deck 6 - Scotty's Something Green Bar & Grill]

Walking into the seemingly bust establishment, Sydney had to weave around a few others coming and going before spotting the unmistakable Orion lounging in a chair at a small table in the far corner. Walking towards her but giving the bartender a slight nod as she passed by, Sydney stopped at the edge of the table, drawing N'Vara's attention.

Looking her up and down, a small smirk came to the Orion's face before she commented, "...I mean, technically you understood the assignment."

Scoffing at the woman, Sydney looked down at her choice of simple black blouse and skinny-fit jeans with vintage-style Chuck's before making a mocking face to N'Vara and taking a seat in the solo chair opposite the woman. The engineer, clad in brown leather pants and jacket over a simple white top screamed Orion, turned over the clean glass that matched the one sitting in front of her and poured a couple fingers of whisky from the bottle sitting in the center of the table into it. Pushing it across the table to the Senior Officer, N'Vara lifted her chin and casually ordered, "Drink."

Scrunching the spot of skin between her brows at the woman before reaching up to take hold of the glass, Sydney, who was not normally a drinker, raised it to her mouth, almost balking at the scent of the whisky, before tossing back half of it. Almost smashing the glass back down onto the table, the human's face turned at the taste as it warmed her chest, causing her to lay her empty hand on it, before looking up to see N'Vara grinning to ask, "The hell?! That doesn't taste like synthol?!"

Grunting a slight chuckle, N'Vara's smirk turned into a grin as she shifted to pick up her own glass, turning her gaze away from Sydney as she said, "Who said we were going to have that fake stuff they serve here?" before taking down the rest of what was in her glass.

Taking the hand from her chest and reaching out to snatch up the bottle between them, Sydney examined it, studying its label before her eyes came back up to the Orion as she set the bottle back down. "It looks just like the rest of the bottles they serve here.., but it certainly doesn't taste like it." Leaning forward to close the distance between her and the lounging woman, the Ops Chief's voice softened to a whisper to ask, "You know this is considered contraband, right?"

Seemingly unbothered, N'Vara picked up the bottle and filled her own glass before topping off Sydney's to match hers. "So? You gonna report me for it?" as she set the bottle back down between them.

Leaning back in her chair, Sydney studied the other woman for a long moment before lifting her glass and taking another sip of the whisky in it. Cringing again, albeit not as dramatically as the first time, she shook her head, "No. Of course not. Especially now that you've tricked me into being an accomplice to it." N'Vara smiled and clicked her tongue as she shot a finger-gun at the Chief, causing Sydney to shake her head and chuckle. "If you weren't so good at your job, I wouldn't put up with your trouble," she said before taking another sip of the legit whisky.

"It's good, though, right?" N'Vara asked, taking another sip and clearly enjoying it.

"Yeah. Reminds me of my University years," Sydney answered. Taking a small breath, the woman asked, "So if you were going to BYOB, why the whole thing about me owing you a drink?"

Humming a short chuckle, the Orion answered, "Because otherwise you would have either refused or gotten the wrong idea. It's better to keep you guessing. I knew you'd be too curious or feel too guilty to ghost me." N'Vara wasn't wrong. The two had certainly learned a little about each other during all the hours of working together.

Glaring at her, yet still grinning, Sydney decided it was better to swallow her commentary, but momentarily forgot the whisky in her glass was real until she felt the burn sliding down her esophagus from another sip. Her eyes moved to the glass, studying its contents a moment, before turning back to the Orion, "This is actually pretty good. How'd you get it?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want answers to," N'Vara replied before taking another sip. Humming at the warmth that filled her chest, she reminded the Senior Officer, "Plausible Deniability, right?" Eliciting a humming, nodding confirmation from the human before she took her turn to splash a bit more of the open bottle into the two women's glasses.

Pausing their conversation momentarily to slouch in her chair to nearly match the casual posture of her drinking partner, Sydney couldn't stop herself from eventually inquiring, "...So what was your goal with the invitation?"

N'Vara gave the human a look before turning her gaze away to the denizens of Scotty's who all seemed to be absorbed in their own conversations and various dishes. It was clear she was comfortable with people-watching in such an establishment. Her attention didn't turn back to Sydney as she answered, "For you to do this. You're always so stiff; so 'by the book'. You need to learn how to relax, Reid; how to decompress. Otherwise, you're gonna have a psychotic break one day, and I'd rather it not be on me." The Orion glanced at the human; looking for Sydney's reaction as she took another sip from her glass.

The Ops Chief's mouth puckered until her lips paled as she inhaled in reaction to the insinuation. She couldn't say the woman was wrong, but she wasn't going to admit she was right, either. As her gaze lingered on the seemingly disinterested Orion, Sydney took a silent sip of her whisky, clearly stuck pondering what to say, but unable to find any words.

N'Vara, having taken in the Chief's reaction, turned her gaze back to the crowd as she broke the silent tension, "Look at them. Eating. Drinking. Laughing. Not a care in the galaxy as we slip through space as if we aren't one Bird-of-Prey away from everyone having to rush to stations and clutching to their seats, hoping they're still breathing in a few minutes."

After their first couple of days working together, Sydney had done her homework and looked into the specialist's past to try to get a sense of her unique personality. It wasn't the usual thing to do, and N'Vara's personnel file didn't reveal too much, but there was enough for her to know not to be so surprised by the Orion's unique commentary. "...Yeah, but isn't that the point of having places like this on ships? To break up the feeling of 'Duty' and 'Dread' so we can bear the weight of it easier?"

Nodding a little more enthusiastically than she had before, the WO inhaled a breath before sighing it out as a hum as she shifted in her chair to better put her attention on the Commander across the table from her. "So, if you've been in Starfleet long enough to know that, why don't I see you in these places more often, hmm?" N'Vara asked, clearly wanting to put Sydney on the spot.

Sipping from her glass and suddenly realizing how quickly the real alcohol was starting to hit her, Sydney took a moment to think before answering, "I don't honestly know. It's never been my thing. By the time I get down with my shift and whatever other projects I have planned for myself, I usually just end up taking a shower and passing out in bed. I've been…" Her voice trailed off as the thought escaped her before she offered a brief frown and a quick shrug, "I guess I just have kept myself too busy to really worry about anything else."

"Maybe that's something you should think about," N'Vara said before tipping her glass to the Commander and taking a sip of her whisky…

 

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