Their Own After Party, Kasper & Charlie Hit the Club

Posted on Fri Oct 11th, 2024 @ 3:04am by Ensign Charlotte Dawes & Lieutenant JG Kasper Andersen M.D

1,935 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Shore Leave & Ship Repairs
Location: Barisa Prime
Timeline: After 'Medical Team Gone Wild Part 3'

Everyone had started to wind down from the ridiculous high they were all on from drinking, eating, playing Dabo and Dom-jot and even axe throwing, but it was starting to get into the early hours of the morning and the blaring music was getting a bit too much.

For having only just come aboard the Astrea, to going out celebrating with everyone, Kasper took a chance to ask Charlotte if she wanted to hang out with him after it all. Kind of continue the party, in a way, but to a much more relaxed extent. Plus he wanted to get to know her a bit better outside of work, just as he did everyone else too, and he hoped she wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"Hey, Charlotte?" He asked, waving for her to come over away from everyone else for a few moments. She'd managed to win on Dabo and he couldn't help but smile widely (and slightly stupidly) at her happiness: it was infectious. "You got a sec?"

"What's up?" Charlotte asked as she walked over to Kasper. "You know hardly anyone uses my full name. It's usually just Char or Charlie," she said with a smile. "But I'll respond to anything." She checked her pockets quickly, let out a relaxed sigh that she had everything, and then looked back up at Kasper the smile still on her face.

"Sorry, Charlie," Kasper corrected, still feeling the buzz of the alcohol and the warmth of a blanket it was providing, "Do you wanna get outta here, maybe get some drinks somewhere else, maybe some food?" He looked at her expectantly and quickly added, "I mean, only if you want to. Could even get a few others to join us? I'm keen for a bit of a walk and I feel like we've caused enough chaos here for one night!" He was trying to talk quietly but it wasn't completely possible.

"I'm game for whatever. It's still early. Do know what's around here?" Charlotte did not pick up on the fact that Kasper was trying to talk quietly, and continued to use her talking-over-the-crowd voice. She scanned to see who was around, she knew a lot of people had gone out back.

He shook his head, "I'm just as lost as you on this planet, but I would assume there's at least a couple of food places? I see Malcolm and my sister have already disappeared, so we might even spot them out in the wild too."

"Yeah, lets grab some food," Charlotte responded. She'd been riding a happy buzz for a while but had enough wits to know that she needed to eat something soon or she'd be feeling it in the morning.

Given everyone else had declined to come with them, Kasper shrugged and walked outside with Charlie. There was a definite chill in the air, but it was the refreshing kind and he was more focused on her than where they were walking so he almost tripped over. Taking a chance, he looped his arm through hers, "Don't think anything of it, love, I'm just doing this to hold us both upright." He laughed and grinned wickedly.

Charlotte giggled as she walked heavy footed and gazed up at the skyline. "The lights are so pretty. I haven't been in a city like this since... a while. A year maybe? Usually if I'm planet side, it's nowhere like this."

"Where we going, Doc?" she asked. With his arm through hers she had gone back and forth between using him for stability and walking on her own as they walked.

He had no idea. "Wherever our feet take us. Preferably to somewhere that has more drinks? I think I heard there's a carousel around here somewhere too?" He shrugged and slipped his arm out from hers and put it around her shoulders instead, pulling her in close for a hug for a moment before letting go. He waved his free hand in a arcing motion, "The planet is our oyster at the moment, wherever you want to go, we go!"

Charlotte started giggling again and couldn't stop. She gasped for air to try to speak, "Oyster?! What does that mean?" She asked through her laughter.

Glad she was entertained by his comment, Kasper laughed too, "It's a figure of speech, apparently. Meaning we've got everything before us, no limits?" He knew that if they ever got a chance to meet, his brother Leif would absolutely adore Charlie and think she was the most amazing person out there.

"I don't get it. An oyster? Oysters are gross and slimy and stuck in the bottom of the ocean," Charlotte said in an attempt to gather herself. "It should be... a Rainbow! Rainbows never end. Or what's something else that doesn't end?" She rambled, slurring her words. "Space, space doesn't end. The planet is our space." She held her free hand out in front of her proud of her new euphemism.

"Oh! You're onto something, you know that?!" Kasper could see her vision and matched her energy. "The planet is our space."

Charlotte let go of him and stepped out in front of Kasper and turned to face him. She pointed at him, clumsily poking him in the chest. "We are Starfleet officers. We should be exploring it then," she declared.

Kasper grabbed her hand on the last time she poked him in the chest and lifted it high above her and turned slightly so she spun around, the sudden movement causing her to stumbled slightly into him making him laugh, "Explore we shall! Come on, I reckon you're wild out on the dance floor, so let's dance?" He gestured to a nightclub they were passing that had dance music blaring out of it.

"Wild? Who me? Definitely not," Charlotte said in mock seriousness. She pushed herself off of his arm and took off in a half jog toward the entrance. "Last one there buys the rounds!"

"Oh come on!" Kasper took off at a run after her headstart managing to catch up to her and wrap his hands around her waist to stop her from winning, eliciting a squeal of delight from her and making him grin even more. They stopped out the front of the club and he let her go ahead, "I've got these rounds, don't worry, you win this time."

"I HOPE you didn't just let me win because I am a woman," Charlotte scolded. "That's a form of sexism you know," she continued as they entered into a hallway that seemed to double as a coat closet, though with the mild weather, there weren't many jackets hanging up tonight. Two large bouncers scanned their IDs and they entered into the main club.

The club had multiple dance floors, some elevated on different planes, and the dance floors were busy, full of people from all reaches of multiple quadrants. A beautiful woman with elegant green hair placed a lei of glow in the dark flowers around each of their necks, and a gentleman in a white fishnet crop top and blue leather pants was right behind her with a tray of iridescent yellow drinks in short yellow cups.

"On the house," he said as he handed each of them one of the drinks. "Come in find a place to dance or relax, and don't be shy. Bodega is a place to mix and mingle."

Kasper beamed with a wide smile as he held up the drink and examined it to figure out what it was but then shrugged and held it out for a toast, "Here's to shoreleave, to being a gentleman, and to continuing on the fun!" The being a gentleman part was a dig at her previous comment about him being sexist.

"Ha!" Charlotte quipped, raising her cup. Rather than taking it all down at once, she swallowed it in a few drinks as she followed Kasper to the bar. It was fairly good, not too sweet - whatever it was.

The shot of whatever it was was divine in Kapser's alcohol-addled mind and he leaned against the bar before examining the lei around his neck and then scanning the dancefloors. The bass in the song playing was the right pitch to get him in the mood for dancing and he spied out of the crowd an Orion female dancing with her friends, a young Andorian having a good time, and a couple of human-looking people just being one with the music.

"I'll have you know that we should get another couple of rounds of shots and then get out on that dancefloor." Kasper said in a matter-of-fact tone that was laced with glee, "I've spotted someone I wouldn't mind being a bit closer to..." He was talking about her but hoped she didn't realise it.

"Alight, let's do it then, and get you out there," Charlotte said, holding up a couple of fingers at the bar. "You know, I make an excellent wingman."

A bartender with alabaster skin and red hair approached Charlotte with a smile. "What will be, gorgeous?"

Charlotte smiled graciously, "What were these?" She asked pointing to the cups they got at the door.

The bartender nodded, "We call those 'Tholian Springs' care for another?"

Charlotte looked over at Kasper, "Yeah, two," she said pointing back and forth between them.

The red head winked at Kasper. "The ones coming straight from the bar have a bit more kick than the ones at the door. Coming right up, sweethearts."

Kasper raised a brow, oblivious to the wink he just received, "Sweethearts? Damn, I've got nothing tonight. Those drinks do look good though!"

They could see her mixing a few things together, and returning with two glasses that were taller than a standard shot glass. She filled each to the rim from the cocktail shaker and slid them over. This round was the same shade of yellow, though a bit brighter with more of a glow.

Charlotte picked up the glass from the base, "To new friends and new dance floors!"

"To new friends and new dance floors!" Kasper echoed as he tapped his shot down on the bar before swallowing it in one and putting the empty glass back on the surface. "Mm, come on, let's get out there then." He stood up straight and stumbled to the right as he gained his footing, "I'm okay! Don't worry, I'm okay." Then he offered out his hands to join him.

Charlotte also kicked back her drink in one swallow and then got the giggles again as she took Kasper's hands. "You can't even stand up, are you sure you can dance?"

"Which dance floor are we going to?" She asked, pulling him away from the bar.

"Trust me, I'm the best dancer in my family." Kasper replied with a laugh as he took the lead and led them out onto one of the dance floors nearby, "Just don't tell my sister. She'll kill me." He laughed again as there was a spot cleared on the floor for them and he spun her around, watching as Charlotte's eyes lit up with a massive smile, "See? I'm good to go and dance. How are you feeling?"

"Great!" Charlotte responded, casually letting go, and moving her body to the music. She was free as a bird while dancing, and she didn't need alcohol to let loose on the dance floor, though the drinks certainly didn't hurt. She let the lyrics guide her moves, swinging her hips and dropping low to the ground, dancing for herself and the sheer joy of it.

~TBC~

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