Pour me a double

Posted on Mon Aug 12th, 2024 @ 5:08am by Lieutenant JG Thivi & Ensign Wrenleigh Reed & Ensign Charlotte Dawes & Civilian Aya Pyxx

1,858 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Menagerie: side stories & mischief making
Location: Paddy's Loft
Timeline: MD 12, 2100 Hours

Charlotte stepped into Paddy's Loft looking for a drink and some friends. She had not expected the first two weeks on a new ship would be so busy for medical. It had been wild thing after another. Not that Charlotte didn't love her job, but she needed to talk to someone about anything but work. Her boss had suggested that she come out tonight, and Charlotte was hoping to see a few other friendly faces as well.

Charlotte leaned up against the bar and scanned the room and waited for one of the servers to come to her.

From behind the bar, a friendly voice was heard. "Welcome to Paddy's Loft. My name is Aya. What can I get for you?"

"Hey Aya, I'm Charlie. Andorian sunset, please. Anything interesting happening around here tonight?" Charlotte asked.

The young Bolian nodded, as she started to get the drink put together. "Oh, not much. Most of the crew seem preoccupied with the Atarans and setting up their new home down on the planet." A few beats later, she slid a napkin over and placed the cocktail upon it, smiling as she stated, "One Andorian Sunset."

"Thanks, looks great," Charlotte said gratefully. "I came here to get away from work, but it's the one thing we all have in common I guess, right?"

Aya smiled and nodded. "It certainly is." She looked to her right and saw another patron trying to get her attention. "Excuse me for a moment," she said apologetically to Charlotte. She then moved to the other end of the bar and took the next drink order

Wren was on a mission to get out of work mode and into off-duty mode, maybe get a drink or two and some food, then maybe head off to bed or whatever, she didn't really know. Walking into the bar, she saw a bartender and an Ensign in Medical blue talking away so she decided to go join them, taking a seat on to the left of her.

After hearing what she ordered, Wren asked for the same and turned to the Ensign, "Hi, sorry for the intrusion, I'm Wren, one of the Diplomats on board."

"Charlotte Dawes, nurse. Everyone calls me Charlie. I've seen you around the colony. Crazy first few weeks, huh?"

"You're not wrong there." Wren sighed dramatically, "Straight into meetings and missions and not even a breath to take in between." Overall, she was still happy she was here, but a breather was definitely needed.

A few beats later, Aya placed the cocktail in front of Wren.

Thivi just wanted to relax. The past few days had been tough on her as chief nurse, what with the paperwork and all, and now that she had time to herself, there was no way in hell she was going to pass it up! She trotted through the door in a dark red tank top and jeans and joined the rest at the bar. "Charlie dear! It's good to see you." She smiled sweetly at the human. "How are you feeling? I know the past few days have been hard on you too, and I'm so proud of you for taking it like a champ."

"I wouldn't trade the job for anything, boss. I'm sure we've both seen worse," Charlotte said with a good-natured smile. "Wren, this is my boss, Lieutenant Thivi, Head Nurse. Um, this is Wren, from Diplomatic Affairs."

Wren took a sip of her drink, which was amazing, and nodded politely to the Lieutenant and said in a rather accented tone, "Hello, Lieutenant. Come grab a drink with us. Both Charlie and I have, what is it, an Andorian Sunset?"

"Yup," Charlotte raised her glass. "Anything Andorian is going to have a little kick to it, but the sunset gives it a nice flavor."

"Margarita, please. Thank you. I don't much like Andorian cocktails; they're far too strong for me." Thivi replies. "Don't hesitate to say something if you need a breather. It'll be better for all of us if any one of us decided to take a break instead of working to burnout. Well, miss... Wren, was it. I imagine the past few days haven't been much easier for you than us in Sickbay."

Aya stepped back over and placed the margarita in front of Thivi. "Enjoy!" She said cheerfully.

"To be honest, I thrive in these types of work conditions, and I don't easily get burnout from it, which is a good thing in my case." Wren replied as she sipped her drink and felt the kick of the sunset part of the drink, "I have found though, that I quite enjoy working with everyone in the department, especially Chief Kayto."

Charlotte's ears perked a bit. "What do you like about the Chief?" she asked, stirring her drink nonchalantly. "I've been working with some of those guys a bit more than I thought I would with the Ataran mission needing medical support - mainly his team though - Cormus and Grexx."

Wren took another sip of her drink, "The professionalism, the ease in which I can actually present some ideas and have them valued. He knows what he's doing, and clearly Cormus and Grexx, as young as they are, are starting to take after him as well. I dunno, it's just a really good department to be in, I guess."

"Interesting," Charlotte commented stirring her drink as she leaned into the counter. "Awesome you found your place. You know Cormus sort of half-assed asked me out once, but never really followed through."

"Only half-assed asked, did he?" Wren laughed and sat back a bit, "You know you should follow up on that and call him out on it, right?" She gave the other ladies a grin.

Charlotte smiled mischievously. "Only if the proper moment presents itself. I can't say I'm looking to get tied down or anything, and his ego most certainly does not need a boost..."

"You know, human men don't always know how to express their feelings for someone of the opposite sex - or frankly any sex, to be honest. I've learned that they grapple with rejection anxiety the most out of many Federation species too." Thivi quipped. "Maybe throwing him a bone might just make his day."

Wren jerked her thumb in Thivi's direction and nodded to Charlotte, "She's got a point, you know."

"It's not just Human men," Aya commented as she worked the bar. "I've seen and heard similar stories and complaints during my time working behind a bar."

"They need a little encouragement - from people other than me, I've learned. The baldness and height don't do it for them." Thivi quipped. "Or the feet. Some thing I'm going to break their testicles whenever I kick them there-"

"There's an Earth saying... anyway. I'm cool with holding myself off on anything that might get misconstrued as commitment until we make it to shore leave somewhere." Charlotte shrugged as she gave a mischievous grin. What about you guys - have your eyes on anyone?"

Wren downed the last of her drink and placed it carefully down on the bar, rather than slamming it down like she normally would, and then spoke up, "No one for me at the moment, but I'm always open for matchmaking as long as he's older. That's all I ask." She laughed and then grinned at the others.

"You're only criteria?" Charlotte responded giving Wren and Thivi a look. "Don't set the bar so low. So like, how much older are you into?" Charlotte flashed a grin. "Wait to answer that question until Aya can get us some refills and be back for this. I want details."

The young Bolian smiled warmly to her customers, and obliged them with another round of drinks. "I'm curious to hear this too, so this round is on me!"

"Heck yeah," Charlotte said. "After that, clock yourself out and just come join us."

Maybe Wren had miscalculated how strong these drinks were, but she was starting to feel slightly lightheaded. Maybe she needed to just slow it down a bit, so she chose to sip on the drink instead and gave a short laugh, "I never said it was my only criteria, my dear, I just have a preference for older men. They just know better in every sense of the word." She gave a wink and a grin.

Charlotte raised her glass to Wren, "Well I can drink to that."

"I'd go for either at this point. Though I find men are a little more sensitive about what their ladies have. Bigger boobs, less gangly, more hair. That sort of thing." Thivi replied with a smirk. "Up or down a few years, I don't mind."

Aya nodded as he added her two cents. "And don't get me started on the weird ones, who only want to e with you because of you species." She shuddered at a revolting memory. "I dated one guy once, who wanted to keep rubbing my ridge when we were being intimate. He didn't last long."

Charlotte almost choked on her drink trying not to spit it out with laughter at Aya's comment. "I'm sorry. That's not funny. I can't imagine. If you have a fetish just front with it."

The young Bolian nodded and grinned. "But back to the age part, so long as they are nice and polite, I don't have a preference as to whether they are younger or older than me."

"So you see all..." Charlotte said raising her eyebrows at Aya. "Anyone catching your interest on board?"

Grinning mischievously, Aya replied. "There are a few that I've got my eye on. And not just men, either," she finished crypticly.

"Oh, do tell!" Wren said as she grabbed her drink and took a sip of it. She was intrigued now too.

"Do tell. I won't judge." Thivi added.

Aya grinned, her eyes seeming to dance. "Let's just say that, if all goes well, I might be enjoying the weekend with a certain petty officer from botanical sciences." She then picked up a cloth and cleaned an invisible spill on the surface of the bar.

"If you don't get flowers, I think that might be an offense," Charlotte teased.

Wren nodded her head in agreement, "I'd be going down there, picking the flowers myself and then making him give them to me," she laughed at the thought of it. "But I do hope everything works out!"

"Tell you what," Charlotte said as she finished her drink. "Let's all meet for dinner on Monday. Aya can tell us all about her weekend then." Charlotte flashed Aya a playful wink.

"Sounds nice to me." Thivi reckoned. "I don't think I'll have anything new to say, but I'd love to hear her story. You go, girl!"

Aya smiled and dipped her head. She then refilled everyone's drink again, and they all continued to talk and laugh for the rest of the evening.

~OFF~

Lieutenant J.G. Thivi
Head Nurse
USS Astrea

Ensign Charlotte Dawes
Nurse
USS Astrea

Ensign Wrenleigh Reed
Diplomatic Officer
USS Astrea

Aya Pyxx
Hospitality Specialist
USS Astrea

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