Callisto in the Stars

Posted on 16 Apr 2014 @ 9:29am by Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Verity Thorne

1,624 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo Deck 7 :: Callisto Bar
Timeline: MD -11 :: 1300 Hrs

[ON]

Asahi had spent the better portion of the last week making absolutely sure everything was in working order, not just on one part of the ship, but in all of them. With everyone arriving on the new and improved Galileo, the engineer had found himself tense, at best. Everything had been re-wired and reconfigured in a manner that may have made things more efficient, but there was potential for issues to arise.

Maybe he was just too tense, especially since the engineering department had seen a sudden decrease of mechanical and technical issues since the Galileo had taken off, giving them very little to do other than monitor the ship's readings.

It did mean that Asahi could easily slip away, across the hall, to perform final tests on the bar. He had delegated most of the work to those who volunteered over shore leave, something he was extremely grateful for. Even with potential hiccups, everything seemed to run nearly effortlessly. And he had the Operations department as well as his staff to thank for that.

Wait. Not his staff. They weren't his engineers. They were the chief's. No sense in jumping the gun, nor did he want to. The idea of being that in charge of anyone caused him to shiver.

He tossed the thoughts aside; something he found himself doing quite a bit lately, plopping himself behind the bar to take another admiring look at the wire set-up for the taps. He had to admit, they outdid themselves this time.

A whistle came from the doorway. A whistle full of admiration. Verity was stood in the doorway, looking around with a small, approving smile. "Very smart," the Chaplain grinned as he moved in to take a proper look, reaching out to run his fingertips along the curve of the bar. "I hope it won't be invite only...." he chuckled, taking it all in.

Asahi nearly slammed his head on the bottom of the bar as the other entered. While he knew people would want to pop their heads in and check out what they had been anticipating during the whole of shore leave, the engineer's nerves made him jumpy.

Quickly, he shot upward, cheeks red, as his eyes rested upon the chaplain. A small smile crossed his features as Asahi realized the other meant little more than to look. "Too many people worked too hard on this to be closed off to anyone. Something this well-done deserves to be shared."

"I should hope so. I'd have to start a riot if it was officers only," Verity agreed with a laugh, his gaze no longer bouncing around the room and instead settling on Kita. "I'm not just being nosy, I promise. I wanted to check the request had gone through for a small stage area for music performance. I had to leave for my plans on Earth before I could follow up on it."

Asahi chuckled. "Oh, don't worry, with the hands that worked so hard on this, I think I would have been right there with you on the rioting." He leaned against the bar, eyes dancing with excitement. "The stage area had to have been the easiest request to fill... You must be ah... Verity then, right? I made sure to take a look at those requests before handing them off to the Quartermaster for supply retrieval... name's Asahi...er, I guess Lieutenant Kita when we're on-duty. I don't much care for titles."

Verity laughed warmly at that, nodding as he leant to him, offering his hand out. "Verity Thorne, Chaplain. It's nice to meet you Asahi. You must be proud, it looks brilliant. And it's all come together in great time."

"Proud's an understatement." Asahi smiled wide, reaching over and accepting the handshake. "Nice to meetcha too." He nodded toward the bar, as if giving the chaplain silent permission to continue looking around. "The only thing I think that's might have gone wrong involves one of the servos in the distillery set-up, but that's easy enough to fix." He waved a hand aside. "It's near-perfect. Nothing's out of place, and it's ready for it's grand opening."

"I can't wait," he admitted with a soft laugh. Even when he'd been a priest, he'd had a weakness for drink now and then. In fact, he'd needed it with some of the grittier community work he'd been involved in. "I can't help you at all with your servo thing and any wiring stuff, but if there's anything you do need a hand with that doesn't have a risk of blowing up the room, let me know. I might not be an engineer, but I can move crates and clean up."

"I'm not cut out for more than my 'servo things or wiring stuff.' It's just the anticipation and nervousness that has me coming back." He chuckled. "I probably sound like I have no faith in the team that put this all together, huh?"

"Not at all," Verity laughed warmly, shaking his head as he thought it over, unconsciously leaning against the bar. "It's only natural to have some last minute nerves. Especially for something that is going to be so important to so many people here. It's...a hub. A centre. Somewhere for our small community to drift to and from, share news, grow rumours, relax, make new friends and strengthen bonds."

The engineer's chuckle died down when his nerves threatened to have him revisit his lunch. He knew Verity meant nothing by his words, but Asahi couldn't help but feel a little pressured. There really didn't seem to be a reason for him to worry, but the chaplain did bring up a good point. It was so close to the grand opening, and he couldn't help himself. "Hopefully keep crew morale up too." He gestured toward the stage area. "And hopefully that's large enough to accommodate the orchestra size you mentioned in your request."

"Perfect," Verity grinned, nodding as he followed the finger's point, but then looked back to him. "I hope it will bring all those things. But that's why it's only natural you'd be...determined to make sure everything is just right," he nodded, having picked his words carefully, not to suggest he was anxious, but more dedicated to making sure it was as it should be. It left the door open for him to talk about if he wanted, but equally to let it pass if not.

"You and me both." Asahi set his hand down on the bar once more, leaning closer to the other man. "Determined is a good way to put it, I guess. There's a lot of emotion surrounding the bar. Lots of dedication, and more hands than I can count." He grinned, anxiety wearing down for at least a small moment. "And tomorrow, we'll see all this hard work put to action." If he wanted to speak on his own anxieties, it didn't show, and it certainly would not have at that point.

Verity smiled at that, nodded as he took a soft breath, taking it in. "Is this your sort of place then?" he asked with curiosity, wanting to know a little more about the man in front of him.

"The bar?" Asahi looked about him, as if ascertaining the answers from the room itself. "I guess it sort of is. It was always seen with an optimistic light, and it holds a lot of weight for a ship like the Galileo." He smiled. "And I always was one for a good party."

Verity grinned at the words, his eyes shining as he nodded, watching him with full understanding on that. Engineering, he couldn't fathom, partying, he definitely could. "What's your idea of a good party?"

"Well, that's pretty... general, actually." The engineer gave a sheepish grin in return. "Parties have always been a giant gathering for me, doesn't really matter who either. As long as there's good food, good company, and a joyous occasion, then it's a good party in my book."

"I hope I will see you at the opening of the bar then?" Verity asked with a warm smile. "It's about time we had something to celebrate."

"Definitely, after all of this?" Asahi nodded vehemently. "I think there's plenty to celebrate. The Galileo's been through a lot. That's gotta be worth something to party over."

Verity was silent for a moment as he thought it over, smiling as he looked down to the ground. After the Borg? The fact they were still in one piece was a good starting place. They'd lost a lot, but they still had a lot left. "I would have to agree," he said softly with a small smile. "I'm looking forward to bringing the singers, orchestra and band in here. I'll be nice," he chuckled softly. "Anyway, I'm sure I've taken up more than enough of your time when you're so busy."

"I look forward to hearing it all." Asahi couldn't help but feel a small swelling of pride in his chest. There were so many things that the completion of this bar would have meant, but Verity was right. He had swiftly become an extremely busy man. Hopefully, there would be time to speak with Verity later. "There'll be plenty of time to talk when the bar's open, and everyone's enjoying themselves."

"Absolutely," Verity grinned, chuckling as he straightened up, ready to head out. "And first drink's on me, so to speak."

Asahi grinned. "Hopefully we'll see each other in good spirits again soon."


OFF

LT. Asahi Kita
[Acting] Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

PO1 Verity Thorne
Chaplain
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Blake]

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