To Have And To Hold

Posted on 26 Sep 2014 @ 3:55pm by Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos

1,627 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 7, Callisto Bar
Timeline: MD 07 - 2147 hours

[ON]

Languidly perched on a barstool, Andreus Kohl was sitting with his elbows braced against the bar behind him. He had changed his clothes after his duty shift, but had only changed into a fresh uniform. Kohl was one of those freaks of nature who found the Starfleet uniform perfectly comfortable. There were a couple of empty tumblers on the bar behind him, and Kohl was staring into the middle-distance, somewhere between the crowd in the Callisto Bar and the stars beyond the viewport.

Amynta Markos let out a breath as she walked into the bar. She had gone from Alexion's side...truth was, she needed to clear her own mind and while he had settled her and reminded her of her...own humanity, she now needed her time. Her space. With the lavender shirt and black pencil skirt, she felt like herself. She felt good. She walked to the bar, watching the man behind it for a moment. "Cardassian Sunset," she said, her voice soft. She would start with that.

Any observer of Kohl's posture could plainly see him perk up, when he heard Amynta's soft request. He lost his grip on his thoughts, and whatever was sitting squarely in his mind's eye. Kohl tilted his head towards the source of voice and he cocked an eyebrow in Amynta's direction. "Now, that's appropriate," Kohl said darkly. Abruptly, his mood bounced back to pleasant curiosity, when he asked, "What's even in a Cardassian Sunset?"

Amynta looked at him, nudging a tribble away from her with her foot. Arching an eyebrow in return, her lips curled into a small smile. "Why, there's a nice bit of Cardassian ale...and spiced rum...orange juice, a hint of lime and grenadine..." she bit her lip, considering it. "It's almost like a tequila sunrise, just...more spice."

Nodding slowly, Kohl remarked, "Always like the sound of more spice," and there was plainly more than one meaning behind his words. He straightened up on his barstool, both to get a better look at Amynta and to hold up two fingers towards the bartender to ordering a Cardassian Sunset too. To Amynta, he said, "I could use more spice, rather than more spirits."

"Both in equal measures if you ask me," she watched him closely, taking in his eyes. Such a youth. They all were nowadays. "Just be sure that there is no...tribble in it. Would hate to have to pick fur out of the glass."

Kohl winced at the thought of it, the expression scrunched up his nose. "Now, you're Lieutenant Markos, yeah?" Kohl asked. He waved a hand in her general direction, as he idly added, "That name sounds terribly familiar."

"I've been on this ship for awhile. I recall when you were in Medical," she said dryly, watching the bartender make their drinks. "So it is either that. Or, you are familiar with my sister or another relative that shares my last name. Or someone else."

"Maybe someone else; maybe you," Kohl acknowledged. He tilted his head from side to side, one for each option. Following Amynta's eyes, Kohl spun his barstool until he could eye the bartender himself, although his gaze landed on his backside. Despite the view, and the pleasant conversation, Kohl's thoughts drifted back to where they were before Amynta entered. "Did you," Kohl asked without vocal inflection; "Did you think we would die on Lyshan Three?"

She looked at him for a moment before frowning, considering his question. "I think that it is a miracle we are still around. I do not dwell on it because we're here, we're alive. So you pick yourself up and brush yourself down and get on with life. You're alive. You're still breathing. And as long as you are breathing, you can do things. You can do whatever you damned well want wit your life."

Kohl latched onto that notion. It sounded like something he would say too, and yet he needed Amynta's affirmation to hold onto it in his current state of mind. He enjoyed a lingering look at the bartender's form and then he returned his gaze to Amynta. "What do you want from your life?" Kohl asked boldly.

"Me?" she shook her head, her eyes narrowing as she considered it. "It changes depending on my situation. Currently, I want to make sure the Cardassians don't pull any wool over our eyes. Tomorrow, that might be different. People are fluid, not...just stuck. You got to roll with the punches."

As she spoke, Kohl thoughtfully nodded at Amynta's words. "Yes," Kohl said. His vowels were elongated by a gradual sense of understanding. "I believe in that as well."

"So. Any real reason why you are talking to me? I doubt sincerely I am your type and you are sure as hell not my type," she sipped her drink, but now there was something playful about the way she looked at the man.

"I did say your name reminded me of some... thing, someone..." Kohl remarked, but he still sounded uncertain about his own words. He lifted his glass, and he took his first sip of the Cardassian Sunset; it had a pleasing kick, pleasing spice. "I'm not sure it's even about you, specifically? I'm afraid to be alone. For tonight."

She looked at him, with a frown. "You better get someone to hold you tonight then," she said before grimacing. "As long as it isn't me. For obvious reasons."

"No, I agree," Kohl said with more than a little emphasis, and raised eyebrows. He even raised his drink. "That wasn't what I had in mind when I chatted you up."

Amynta chuckled, shaking her head at that. "Good. Because...just, no. No, no, no..." she looked around, taking everything in for a moment. "I can't wait for this dreaded mission to be over and done."

"I'll drink to that," said Kohl. And he did. "That and never spelunking again. Caves just make no sense."

She finished her drink, considering the words before shrugging. "A lot of people have managed to survive in them in the past. Shelter and homes. These mines though? No. I am not a great admirer of them."

Kohl raised his glass, considered its contents in the light, and he downed the last of his Cardassian Sunset as well. He set his glass down, and he said, "I'm going to work on that not being alone plan," said Kohl. "My dinner companion seems to have stood me up."

"Who was that?" she asked as she arched an eyebrow. She...had spent a lot of her life alone. And never minded much. Hell, she was sure she was doing everything that Nurse Vipsania would argue against. Drinking. Sex. Still, her head had only a slow, steady throbbing. Nothing dangerous.

Kohl stared down the dining table where he should have been sitting. "A young engineer. It would be unkind to besmirch his name," said Kohl. He dismissed the notion of bad-mouthing his study buddy with a vague wave of his hand. Kohl sighed. "Engineers can be fickle boys. ...It's been too long since I had me a good security bloke."

Amynta sipped her drink, thinking it over. "You that scared of being alone that you'll just...go out there and get a department?" she asked, lightly, with a shake of her head. "Sometimes, you have to wait for something...sweeter."

Looking back over his shoulder, Kohl raised a hand to the bartender and he pointed at his empty glass. "I can't answer that..." Kohl said. In part, it was because he couldn't entirely recognize how he was feeling. In part, because, "Your question implies Human value judgements that I don't share."

"Trust me, fear of being alone isn't just a human value or judgment," Amynta looked at him before shaking her head. "But we have had plenty of time today to experience that."

"And you," Kohl asked, "Do you have a cure for loneliness for yourself?"

"I am not alone," she said and met his eyes, searching them. "I've made the choice not to be alone."

Kohl considered her eyes as well, looking for that glimmer of certainty. He tilted his head, and he said, "I'm learning that's not as easy a choice to make as I expected it to be."

"Nothing ever is. The question is...do you enjoy going from bed to bed? In which case, then you do so. Not everyone's made for settling down," she said bluntly, considering it. "Bloody tribbles. I think they have to close the bar soon."

"Well, that's the thing of it," said Kohl, after some internal deliberation. "Going from bed to bed comes naturally. I love to meet new people, discover new things. And that's what makes it so exciting when I meet someone who makes me want to not do that."

"Not met that person yet then?" she asked, with a small smile. "Well you are young. You have plenty of time in the future anyway..." she finished her drink and sat back.

"I don't know," Kohl remarked ponderously. His words came out slowly; his enunciation was slackened as he was lost in thought. "I meet persons who feel like they could be that person, and we start of strong, and then I don't know where to go from there."

"Sometimes, you have to work on love," she said and shrugged. "Or admit that you're happier not settling down. Nothing wrong with that anyway..." she motioned for another drink. "Besides, now isn't the time to think about all of that."


[OFF]

Lieutenant Andreus Kohl
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

&

Lt. Amynta Markos
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed