Surprise (Sort of) Part 5
Posted on Mon Sep 22nd, 2025 @ 2:20pm by Ensign Tenzi Sh'reyva & Josef Forstinger & Ensign Tyler Williams & Chief Warrant Officer Aiden Mejia & Petty Officer 3rd Class Dallas Reese & Civillian Samuel Wynters
1,704 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
The Menagerie II
Location: Paddy's Loft / Ten Forward, Deck 10
Timeline: MD007
Josef in the meanwhile continued. Swishing the Stein around slightly. His wifebeater didn't do much to hide not only slight muscle, but also other features such as some scarring.
"It's good. I've had better." with the last part of the response being shot over with a shit-eating grin and wink-meant to get taken in jest. And as subsequent proof that it was good, he took another long drawn-out swig. His throat visibly moving with Adam's apple as the liquid flowed down his throat. This time however his dark blue eyes also focused on something else than the beer. Shooting a curious glance over at Tenzi.
Her antennae were useless liars, curling forward again, pointing like divining rods toward the man in the sweat-stained undershirt. She didn’t care if Josef saw--half the ship had already caught her antennae betraying her at one time or another.
"Careful," she added, tilting her head, antennae angling to mirror the gesture. "If you keep drinking like that, Samuel will start charging you by the gulp."
She told herself she was just being friendly, just poking fun at a stranger. But something in the way he grinned--like the whole galaxy was some kind of private joke--made her want to stick around and see if he’d share the punchline.
"Really now Bluey ? Well, guess I've gotta speed up before I go bankrupt." He quips, giving her a grin, now fully looking towards while also turning his barstool towards her after giving her that nickname-not having yet fully looked her up and down, but even from just the headshot he got here could tell her most striking features.
Tenzi let out a laugh the surprised even her: sharp, unguarded and ending in a snort. Her hand flattened briefly against the bar as though she were trying to keep her balance. Nobody had ever called her that--most people reached for Ice Queen or Frostbite if they were feeling particularly clever. But this stranger had tossed it off like it was nothing, like a stone into a pond, and somehow it landed soft instead of sharp.
Her antennae betrayed her again, curling forward, reaching as though they wanted to shake his hand.
"Bluey," she repeated, trying to decide if it might be a gift or an insult. Then she leaned in, her grin crooked and dangerous. "Careful, denim boy. You name me, I get to name you back."
Now, normally for Josef, a laugh was the most he usually got with his teasing. However, this jolly blue giant vixen decided to actually tease him back . Finally, a worthy challenge, just like back then with his friends.
He matched her grin, however, leaned back slightly in opposition to her stance, still turned in the barstool towards her. "Creative, Lady Long Legs, I'll have to give you that one, but fair game." He applauded her in a sense while also shooting back his own tease. Secretly trying to gauge her reaction. "So, what would you name me ?" he practically challenged her now, taking another swig of his beer.
By this point, Samuel had subtly backed up have a step, to allow Josef and Tenzi to he able to focus on each other. His El Aurian senses were absorbing everything, both said and not said. Silently, he put good odds that these two would end up in bed together, sooner rather than later.
Tenzi tilted her head, antennae sketching lazy little arcs in the air, as though they were already drawing names with invisible pens. Lady Long Legs.. That one she let float, feeling how it turned over in the air and the momentary silence. Her lips parted as if to say something sharp, then closed again. "Denim boy works just fine," she said at least, but there was a sly edge.
She tapped the bar twice with one blue fingertip. "If you're really asking me to christen you, you might want to slow down on the beer first. Names are binding things, you know. Hard to outdrink one once it sticks." A light suddenly went off in her eyes and she slowly turned her head in Samuel's direction.
"Samuel," she said evenly and coolly. "I'll have a dunkel of pilsner, please."
Samuel stepped back up to the bartop, a confused look on his face. "Say that again, m'dear?" He then explained the differences between the twi types of beer that she had asked for. "A Dunkel is a German dark lager that is malt-forward, emphasizing flavors of bread, caramel, and nuts with a mild hop profile, while a Pilsner is a pale lager known for its crisp, clean, and subtly malty character with a pronounced floral and spicy hop bitterness. The key differences lie in their color, dark vs. pale, flavor profile -malty vs. hoppy- , and the types of malts used in their respective recipes." He took a breath, then added, "So, you see, you just asked me for a dark beer of a light beer. Which one would you prefer?"
Rather than let her embarrassment for not knowing the difference between these two malted Earth drinks show, Tenzi decided to double down. "I'll take one of each," she said to Samuel, before turning to throw a look to the denim stranger that said, Watch what I can do. Said denim stranger seemed to still be searching for a retort.
"Christen me ? You're neither a priest nor my mother." he joked, perhaps slightly inebriated already by the copious amounts of beer consumed, or just used to a more rough way of talking. Still shooting her a shit-eating grin all the way. "Bring it on then, I've been called almost every name in the book."
For Josef this wasn't exactly flirting. Moreso "shooting the shit"- only he didn't seem to realize he wasn't doing so with one of his buds back in the 20th century, but some blue Alien vixen in the far far future. Like straight out of the comic books. Letting out a snicker as Tenzi got her beer order wrong.
Tenzi ignored the snicker. Or pretended to. Her antennae betrayed her yet again, angling toward him like compass needles too stubborn to point at anything else.
"You say that like it's supposed to scare me," she said coolly but with a lopsided grin on her face.
Samuel nodded then poured two seperate steins, one with a dark brown fluid, which had a dark vanilla-colored head of foam on top, and another, golden yellow, with a head of foam pure white in color. After setting them both down in front of Tenzi, he suggested, "I'd drink the pilsner first, otherwise the strong taste of the dunkel will completely block the flavor notes of the light beer."
Tenzi wrapped her hand around the pale-gold stein like it was the handle to an escape hatch. She tipped it back, throat working fast, the pilsner going down in a long, single pull. The bubbles clawed at her tongue and nose, and by the last mouthful her eyes watered. She set the empty glass down with a solid clunk and sucked in air, antennae twitching wildly.
"That's one," she rasped, holding up her index finger.
The dunkel waited beside it, darker than an oily-black nebula. It smelled vaguely of burnt bread and roasted nuts. She wrapped her fingers halfway up the sweaty stein, lifted it an inch off the bar, then paused. Her mouth was still full of the pilsner's bitterness, and her chest felt tight from having swallowed it too quickly.
She shot Josef a look over the rim, part dare, part warning. Her grin was shaky but still sharp at the edges. "One at a time," she said, her voice almost hoarse.
Before she could down the dunkel, Samuel gave Tenzi a word of warning. "While Andorian Ale can be strong, depending on the vintage, Human beers run the gambit of being either light or very strong. And the beers I serve are not synthbeers, they are the real thing, which I brew myself, using the old recipes and methods. So, that being said, I'd go easier with the dunkel. The hops used in its brewing might affect your Andorian physiology in odd ways."
"Samuel," she said, voice low and steady, "if Andorian physiology couldn't handle a little experimentation, we'd all still be living in ice caves." She flashed her teeth, a half-grin, half-snarl. "Don't worry."
She turned to Josef. "You wanted me to christen you, denim boy?" she said, her voice still raw from the pilsner. "Earn it. Finish yours before I finish this."
Josef turned back to her, practically pointing his glass at her. He was never one to back down from a challenge, as this blue woman would soon unfortunately learn.
"Oh, bring it on." he replied with a smile, and in a split second began chugging his beer like a madman. Audibly breathing through his nostrils, sometimes getting close to choking but just.... continuing. He wasn't feeling the effects of the alcohol--yet, but it did have the nasty habit to catch up faster than expected.
Tenzi's antennae twitched forward, fascinated, like they were attempting to gauge the distance between his throat and the bottom of the glass. He drank like a man outrunning a storm, all stubborn pride, and for a long moment she almost admired it. Almost.
She lifted the dunkel, heavier in her hand than expected, the glass sweating against her palm. The first swallow hit her tongue like burnt bread. Bitter, rick, far too dark for her Andorian palate. She coughed once into the rim, but forced the second swallow down anyway--throat burning.
By the third, her antennae had curled in close, trembling. She jerked the glass back down to the bar, lips wet, eyes watering profusely.
"Denim boy," she croaked, her grin curling back. She jabbed the rim of the dunkel at him like a knife. "If you're going to drown yourself, at least make it"--suddenly, a enormous belch found its way out of her throat--"worth the watching."
She tipped the dunkel back once more--reckless now, the dark beer streaming down her throat as she tried to reach victory.
~tbc~