Wingmen (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 27 Dec 2021 @ 8:55pm by Petty Officer 2nd Class Donald Andrews & Petty Officer 3rd Class Constantin Vansen
Edited on on 29 Dec 2021 @ 6:02pm

1,442 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Regula I - Deck 16, Mess Hall 1
Timeline: MD 03, 0845 hrs

[ON]

Sat in one of Regula I's mess halls Donald tucked into a full English breakfast; his third since their shoreleave began, it made a nice change to stop and have a proper meal rather than the quick meals and snacks with supplement chasers he and most of the engineers had mostly eaten over the last few months.

He could see several other Galileo crew in this mess hall, some of them looking decidedly worse for wear having not being able to hold their brew like he could.

Constantin smiled as he moved up behind him and leant to kiss his cheek in an over the top manner more to startle him, his hair a bit of a mess before he slid into the seat opposite him. He did look worse for wear, but he was grinning and in good spirits, so it was clearly not a hangover or his meds having worn off. To be honest, he only looked worse for wear for lack of sleep and not having had the chance to clean up much. He still wore the outfit from the night before. "Mm...that looks nice and greasy..." he said and pretended to reach out to steal some.

Donald nearly jumped out of his skin when Constantin appeared but quickly regained his composure "So you are alive, wondered where you got to."

Constantin held his hands out to the side for a moment in one of his shrugs, shaking his head. "Oh, I nearly didn't think I would survive. Or be let out afterwards but I suppose...someone had work to do..." he sighed before he sat back, eyeing up the food. "That looks good, what is it called?"

"The full English breakfast and a big mug of tea, everything a hungry man needs." Donald replied, spearing a chunk of sausage with his fork. "Especially after the night I had."

Constantin met his eyes at him mentioning the night and he raised an eyebrow, a smile coming to him. "Now I want some details on your night. And a piece of toast," he said lightly, the smile becoming cheeky.

"I didn't know Andorian women could be that feisty." Donald said, chuckling slightly.

"Your first time?" Constantin asked softly, smiling as he made real of his request and took a piece of toast from his plate...yes, he would most likely have to pay Donald back for that at some point. Food theft was a serious offense in Engineering and Operations. There were still tales of how Ubax had reacted when someone took her bag of dried blueberries. "They are a passionate people. And most forget that."

Donald quickly took another fork full of his breakfast. "Very passionate." he said. "How did your night go, I lost track of you after you and..... Marel? went off dancing."

"She was a good dancer," Constantin took a bite of the toast, chewing it as he thought for a moment. "We went to hers. It was fun, although I have to say she wasn't the passionate one. But good taste in music! She gave me some new bands I should listen to."

"You make it back to your quarters before your meds wore off?" Donald asked, he doubted Constantin had bought a hypo with him to the bar last night.

"She was a doctor, she replicated me some," Constantin winked before he finished the toast with a sigh. "Did not expect it but she was ever so sweet about it. Suggested we'd play doctor but apparently she wasn't into that."

"Some people don't like to bring their work home." Donald remarked. "Aidra on the other hand, quite a thorough examination of all the major systems, hard work but certainly worth the effort."

"Well, as an engineer, you are not worried about hard work and you know it has the right reward," he said lightly, holding his eyes for a moment before winking at Donald.

"And the reward was great indeed." Donald laughed. "Haven't had a night like that in a very long time."

"You clearly needed it," Constantin said before he shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck almost absent-mindedly. "After what we went through, sometimes...you need to let yourself feel something else. I've got a spacewalk booked in myself, today. Looking forward to seeing the outside of this station."

"Oh man, I miss going Eva." Donald said, pausing as he picked up some more of his breakfast. "Used to do it all the time back at Avondale. sometimes the old workerbee just wasn't small enough to get in where we needed to when building starships."

"I did it whenever we had hull issues growing up. Small hands, easier to get stuck into spaces. Hey, if you want to, you should have a go. They say the view is amazing out there," Constantin said quickly, his eyes warm as he grinned. "I just want to be floating for a bit...give my brain a chance to calm a bit."

Donald nodded. "It is nice to just float out there, nice and quiet. Plenty of time to yourself to think and reflect."

"And sounds like you have a lot to reflect on after last night," Constantin leant a little closer for a moment, so he could hold his eyes before he chuckled and pulled back, drumming his hands on the table for a moment. "Of course, pop some music in there as well...it's brilliant, very...moody."

"Reflect on how long it might be before I have another night like that." Donald said, he scooped up the last of his breakfast with the remnants of his toast and wolfed it down. "Mmhh beautiful."

"I'm sure if you applied yourself you could have a night like that on the ship too," Constantin said playfully, but he understood. Some people didn't like mixing shipmates that way.

Donald chuckled. "Only 85 people on the ship, not going to be someone for everyone."

Constantin considered the words, thinking for a moment about someone he had almost slept with...but the drink had stopped them both. "Sensible opinion perhaps. A couple of years ago I would have said just to pretend to be someone else...then you're someone for everyone."

"And now?" Donald asked, he picked up his mug and downed the remnants of his tea.

For a moment, Constantin looked thoughtful before he smiled to him. "I try to be who I am. Not always easy, but I try to. And if they do not like me for that, then...it's fine."

"You're a good man Constantin. Plenty of people like you for who you are."

"Oh please, Donald..." Constantin laughed and shook his head. "I can be annoying, infuriating and sometime come off as a stupid. But you're a good friend so I will take the compliment. I just...you're a good man too and I want you to be happy."

"Annoying, infuriating, stupid and a loud snorer." Donald laughed, he was probably the worst snorer out of the pair.

"Hey, at least you don't wake me up rocking the bunk with a dirty holovid..." Constantin said before he rolled his eyes. "That was the one thing I hated about sharing the dorms. Just...you heard too much, you know? Besides...you are not annoying, infuriating or stupid. And I have heard louder snorers."

Donald laughed again. "Oh I have some dirty holovids around our quarters somewhere."

Constantin's eyes widened and he leant close, clearly curious. "Yeah? Because I got to be honest, I've never seen one," he said, a slight blush coming to him.

"Really?" Donald said, quite surprised. "And I bet you've never used the holodeck to make saucy situations?"

"Why would I?" Constantin looked confused before he gave a small shrug. "My reality is strange enough as it is, with enough opportunities for saucy situations. I'd rather use the time in zero g..." he winked before he sat back. "You are a man of surprises and mystery, Donald Andrews. I like that."

Donald chuckled. "Well for some of us those saucy situations can be few and far between." He looked up when he heard some commotion, a veritable horde of people began to come through the mess hall's entrance. "Come on, best free up this table for that lot." he said, picking up his tray.

Constantin nodded, smiling as he mirrored him. "Good plan..." he said and looked around, as if he had forgotten something before he dismissed it. "And let's talk more about saucy...."

[OFF]

--

PO2 Donald Andrews
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

PO3 Constantin Vansen
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

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