Make up drink

Posted on 20 Nov 2018 @ 4:10pm by Ensign Mimi & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark
Edited on on 22 Nov 2018 @ 3:00am

1,806 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A - Callisto Bar
Timeline: MD -164, 1700hrs

[ON]

Perched on a stool at the slim, curved bar, Gabriel moved gently to the beat of the music. The perks of a new ship? A new bar. He watched the last of the flame of his Betazed Illusion cocktail burn out, leaving the blue liquid shimmering. He took a sip, sighing at how the unpleasant taste of the liquid before being set alight now tasted sweet and warm. He wondered if a similar tactic could work for other things in life.

"That looks very nice Gabriel, far too sweet though, even for my poor sense of taste." Mimi said as she slipped onto a stool beside him, after freshening up from their sparring session she'd come for the 'make up drink' he offered after punchng her square in the jaw.

"Oh, I usually go strong and straight up, but seeing as we're supposed to be behaving ourselves...." he tutted, rolling his eyes. "Besides, I think I've already given you enough aches and pains, you don't need new ones having to half carry me home," he teased.

"That is what you would have to do with me if I drank more than a small glass full, my body does not take alcohol very well." She told him. "As I found out at a beach party when we were back on earth."

"What happened?" he asked with a grin, unable to help himself as he motioned for the bartender so she could order something for herself.

"Me, Ensign Derani, Ensign st James, Tuula from sickbay and the Captains sister Nesh. all went to a beach on earth to relax and have some fun. Ens Derani bought a drink for all of us, it had a lot of.... what did she call it... Rum I think." Mimi paused for a moment to glance through a small menu. "I had a glass of it and I passed out very quickly."

"Drunken lush..." he teased her with a smile, pushing his shoulder to hers. "Can't turn down a good glass of rum though. Ice cold..." he winked to her. "Speaking of, what would you like?"

"Some iced Tarkelian tea will do nicely." Mimi replied.

Gabriel motioned to Mimi as he smiled to the bartender, indicating 'one of those, please'. "Did you work up a thirst?" he teased innocently.

"Yes, it was a very good workout." Mimi tod him, she had used up a lot of energy during the sparring, she'd need to sleep or eat fairly soon.

"You move well," Gabriel nodded slowly as he thought on it before chuckling. "I bet that means you dance great too."

"Thank you." Mimi said smiling at Gabriel "I can dance well, Nekomi dancing is quite different to human dancing though."

"Really?" Gabriel arched an eyebrow as he leant a little closer with curiosity. "Well now you have to tell me more...."

"Dancing on your own is very.... acrobatic." She told him.

"On your own?" he tsked, shaking his head with a soft chuckle as he leant in closer to her. "Sweetheart, dancing is not a solo adventure...."

"Paired dancing can be just as acrobatic, it depends on the dance." She added.

"And the mood," Gabriel chuckled softly, running his hand over his dark hair as his mind went back to a few select evenings. "I was taught to ballroom dance when I was young, you know? Waltz, foxtrot. The best is the tango though, you can't beat a hot tango..." he grinned, shaking his head with a sigh. "I've had a few nights in a club that comes close...casual dancing...that bit closer than necessary with a stranger that makes a shock go up your spine," he chuckled softly as he looked to her. "But the tango has it all."

"I have tried this ballroom dancing, it is very interesting." She thought back to dancing with M'rthyr on the Schofield.

"Interesting?" he shook his head with a soft smile, sipping his drink with a sigh of near relief. "It's...a vital part of life."

"Dancing and sport are important with my species too, my mother told me we have..... games every year in the cities and a big one every few years where people together from all the cities."

"Sounds amazing," Gabriel admitted, settling his chin in his hand with a small smile. "We should do it with dancing. Let's start a dance olympics," he teased with a soft laugh.

"That is an interesting idea, I am sure I remember the Captain saying she liked dance, it could be fun to have a....."

Gabriel waited in silence until it became apparent that she was struggling for her next word. He grinned, nudging her arm. "Competition?"

"Competition.." Mimi repeated. "Thank you, sometimes I have trouble thinking of the right English word."

Gabriel shook his head with a half smile, waving his hand slightly with it too. "I wouldn't be able to come up with the word in your language either. Thinking on it, I know the word in...six other languages, but not yours."

"Nekomi is a hard language to learn and the translator is not very accurate." Mimi told him. "I'm teaching it to our CMO and she is doing well."

"Language is important," Gabriel said softly, his eyes sincere as he glanced to her. "It's an essence of a people. Of a culture. But even when you learn the words, it's hard to truly understand the meaning. I mean...those things that are left between the lines. The hidden meaning of a phrase or word that only natives truly understand."

Mimi nodded. "That is much harder to teach but I think she will understand after some time."

"I went through a phase of learning languages when I was younger," he shook his head with a small smile as he thought back to it. Okay, so maybe it had been about sticking two fingers up at his brother. "It feels good to learn a language. Like you're part of another world."

"Communicating with the people around me was very hard to begin with," Mimi replied. "The universal translator is not very accurate with Nekomi, so my foster mother taught me to speak English and I gradually taught her Nekomi."

"Do you feel closer to us? For being able to speak it rather than relying on a translator?" he asked with interest, searching her eyes.

"I would say yes," Mimi replied. "It is nice to speak to someone and not have the..... errors that the translator gives some of the time. Some English words still confuse me though, the long ones mostly.

"Don't worry, they often confuse a lot of us too," he assured with a wink, laughing gently as he nudged his shoulder against hers.

"Technical terms are easy though, like saying dilithium articulation chamber but a word like congratulations took me a long time to learn to say properly. Mimi explained.

"I guess it's all about what you use and how," he said softly, shaking his head with a small smile. "Maybe you didn't have enough chances to say a great word like that to enough people."

"That could be it." Mimi said after thinking for a couple of seconds. "Only a few people celebrated birthdays on the Charleston."

"Why wouldn't the others?" he asked quietly, but with genuine curiosity. It sounded almost sad, that so many people wouldn't bother. Or wouldn't want to.

Mimi pondered her own statement for a moment. "I found quite a few species do not, at least in the same way humans do, there were almost as many aliens as humans on the Charleston. Nekomi do not celebrate birthdays, only when we reach the age of maturity."

Gabriel gave a half, almost sly smile at that, leaning into her with a playful gleam in his eyes. "You should start...it's a great excuse for getting presents out of people..."

"I got gifts off a few people even when there was nothing to celebrate," Mimi said. "I am collecting trinkets from different species to show the Nekomi, if I ever find them again."

"Find them?" he asked with a slight shake of his head, not sure what she meant by that. He didn't really know anything about her race, but didn't want to come out and say so. It seemed rude.

"I am the only Nekomi in the whole of the federation," Mimi started. "A colony I grew up on was destroyed by Klingons and a Starfleet ship heard our distress call but did not arrive in time and found one person alive; me."

"It sounds lonely," Gabriel had to admit, nodding slowly with a frown as he considered it. A sense of alienation came in many different forms, to many different people. "You've never been tempted to leave and rejoin your race?"

"If only I knew where to look." Mimi replied, she did have a few clues but they were slim. "I have never seen the homeworld and I do not know how to get back to it."

"Does this feel like home to you now?" he asked with a half smile. If she'd never been to the homeworld and had been living and working amongst the Federation, it was more of a home than a strange place could ever be anyway.

Mimi nodded. "Starfleet has been almost all I have known for 8 years now, it is the only home I have."

"There are worse homes," Gabriel said quietly with a weak smile, shaking his head as he took a large mouthful of drink, sighing with the way it soothed.

"That is true." Mimi said then drained the last of her tea. "I do want to find my true home but it is proving hard."

"If there was a colony with some of your people close enough to Federation space for them to pick you up, then there must be some records somewhere," he assured with a small smile that he hoped seemed reassuring enough. "Keep digging, you'll find it."

"Hopefully, one day." Mimi sighed slightly, "One day."

Gabriel hopped down from the stool, smiling even as he slugged back the last of his drink. "Lady luck is a fickle beauty...but a beauty she is all the same," he winked to her. "I need to get going, but I'll catch you around soon?" he asked, meaning it. "We can always do some more training...or just drink more, I'm always up for that," he assured with a chuckle.

Mimi ordered herself another drink then turned to Gabriel. "I would like that Gabriel."

"Good stuff, catch you later then, nimble," Gabriel winked to her, slapping her arm fondly before heading out, whistling the foxtrot melody that had popped into his head.

[OFF]

--

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

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