Girls Night...In Part 1 (Backpost)

Posted on 03 Aug 2016 @ 5:22pm by Lieutenant JG Catherine Cooper & Commander Jayla Kij & Jadzia Melcox

2,336 words; about a 12 minute read

Jadzia had finished organizing her booze and had a crate of random stuff left over. A few bourbons, some clear alcohols, something from Trillius Prime... It was all hard stuff meant for mixing or pouring over ice and she just had no more room in her organization scheme for them. Shrugging, she grabbed the crate and headed to the lounge. Maybe they could use it.

When she got to the lounge, she looked around and met eyes with the barkeep, smiling widely as she stepped up to the bar and set the small crate on the top. "I'd like to make a donation. Interested in some assorted liquors?"

"Ooo!" said Selah, brightening at the sight of the crate. "I can always use assorted liquors. Especially if they're a donation. Whatcha got?"

Picking up bottles in the crate, Jadzia started going through the random various hard liquors.

Isobel who had been sitting at the bar prior to Jadzia arriving with the crate sipped at her drink. She bad been for her physical and met her immediate superior. She had decided a drink was the only thing that would improve her day

Cooper, having spend the preceding time preparing for her mission had finally done all there was to do and she still had a few hours before she had to rest before the mission. In true Cooper fashion she sought people out, wanted to remember what life was just in case. Tomorrow she might die or worse, she was prepared and at a lack of anything more important to do went to the lounge. She walked up to the bar just in time to see Jadiza with a box of booze and her eyebrows went up briefly, "A party and I wasn't invited?" She joked.

"It's sort of impromptu," said Selah. "And luckily, my shift is just ending. I'll get our first round while we wait for my replacement to come in. What can I get you two?"

Cooper smiled, "Something colorful." She replied to Selah

"Colorful," she repeated, giving her a big smile. "You got it! And for you?" she asked the woman who'd brought the booze in the first place.

"The hardest liquor you've got." Jadzia replied with a smile as she turned to look around the room again.

"Coming right up!" said Selah, heading off with the box of booze to make their drinks.

Isobel rolled her eyes as she took a large mouthful of her chosen beverage, 'perfect example of why I prefer my own company.' She reasoned trying to zone back out of the nearby conversation.

"Catherine Cooper, Security..." She offered her hand to Jadzia.

"Jadzia Melcox, Counselor and top ace pilot." replied the half assimilated woman, shaking the offered hand.

Isobel turned her head, now they had her interest. It was time to size up her colleagues and make her presence known. "Isobel Summers, also Security." She rudely interjected.

Cooper looked over with a smile, "Yes I saw your file, Deputy Chief so I get to help review everyone's file, fun fun..." She said explaining why she was looking at personnel files. "Nice to meet you.."

"I'm sure you enjoyed reading mine. Would have made for some interesting dialogue. As you can see, not quite as scary as my file may have sounded." Summers noted as she moved closer.

Cooper laughed a little, "Well files are handy things but incomplete after all, it's always better to see someone in action. Judge for oneself." She said with an easy smile, she'd been working at not overwhelming people with her personality and liked to think her restraint paid off. The usual trick of thinking about something complicated helped with that a great deal. There was some in her record that Cooper didn't care for but with the mission prep she'd bumped talking to Summers about it until after she got back...if she got back.

"You would have also noted my previous role?" Summers boasted, sipping at her drink.

Cooper nodded, "You've had many..." She joked keeping it light, it was a common thing security officers tended to be wider knowledged then given credit. "You'd be referring to your time with the USS Highcoast yes?" She asked going through her mental cheat sheet.

"You've done your homework, Lieutenant." Isobel stated proudly, "Don't worry, I don't want your job." She took another sip of her drink.

Cooper laughed, something she did easily and often, "Good to know, not so crazy as all that then." she said bemused. She knew the others record but was willing to let her actions speak for themselves as long as her personality wasn't going to cause harm to life and limb. She'd thought to have a long talk with her sometime about her views, just to understand but since Cooper wasn't sure she'd survive to see next week she wasn't inclined to push it just yet. Just going with the flow as benefited her Buddhist philosophy.

Selah returned with the two drinks and set them in front of the other two women. "And there is my replacement," she said, smiling at the blond man coming her way. "He'll get the rest of the drinks. Oh, I'll have an old fashioned daiquiri," she told him, taking off her apron and hanging it behind the bar.

"Thanks, Selah." Catherine said gratefully and took a long drink of the refreshing mixed drink that she recognized as a 'Malibu Pink Lemonade'.

It was the end of her half shift and Deborah was flagging and she needed energy. The most energetic place on the ship - other than, say, the warp core - was the lounge. Here people laughed, loved, and, literally, lounged - creating a wonderful buzz in the air that made the lounge a happy place to be.

Cooper always alert, even if she didn't look like she was caught the eye of the newcomer and smiled a general smile of greeting before returning to her conversation.

Deborah returned the smile with a gentle smile of her own, before casually scanning a menu while she waited.

Summers noted the exchange in smiles and wrinkled her forehead. Being the introvert she was, she spent a large portion of her time people watching and couldn't comprehend the fake pleasantries she often witnessed.

Jayla came into Talons looking to mingle with whoever was there and found a group of women near the bar- most of whom she knew. "Hi!" she said as she approached. "Anything interesting going on?"

"Hey Jayla!" Catherine greeted her friend easily being an outgoing sort. "Just hanging out, your newbies over there..." She pointed to the medico Deborah sitting at a table, "Selah just got off work and is going to join us and this Lt. JG Isobel Summers, new to the Security Department." She nodded to the other woman nearby. "Lt Summers I expect you've met the CMO?" and she gestured for Jayla to sit at the unoccupied bar stool on her left opposite Summers, instinctively seeking not to crowd the other.

"Wow, we get to party with Selah?" said Jayla, nodding a hello to Deborah and Isobel. "I've been dying to see what she's like when she's not behind the bar."

Cooper nodded, "I know right? Should be fun" She replied.

"Hopefully," said Selah, taking her daiquiri from the blind bartender, "drunk. Or at least slightly buzzed. We'll see," she added cheerfully.

Jayla asked the new bartender for a hard lemonade and watched him head off to get it. "He's kinda hot," she commented.

"Don't bother," said Selah, sounding slightly disappointed. "He's married. Three kids. Wife's an engineer. She's really sweet and totally hot."

"Still," said Jayla. "We can look."

"Seriously?." Isobel questioned. She slammed her empty glass on the table, "try and control yourselves. I suddenly feel like I'm the only adult among a group of teenage girls." She lifted her glass indicating to the bartender to bring another.

Catherine who had been looking at the bartender's butt, glanced back at Summers, "Such an old soul you are..." She said with a gentle smile,"Hey we are not jumping him in public go us and our restraint." She joked not offended so much as curious what brought that on.

"Hey, mind if I join?" Deborah asked the group clutching her newly arrived synthale. There had been friendly smiles exchanged, so why not wander over and have a friendly drink? Plus her boss was there too.

"Of course no problem, I'm Catherine..." She went around with quick introductions before turning her attention to Summers who was speaking again,

Isobel looked the short woman up and down and decided to ignore her arrival, "I think it's my restraint that ought to be commended." Summers snapped back at the Assistant Chief of security, "I also wouldn't consider me an old soul but a little professionalism never goes astray. Whether you're on duty or not."

"That I can agree with..." Cooper said an eyebrow went up briefly her smile still in place wondering if Summers even knew that 'polite behavior' was part of the definition of Professionalism. "And to be fair when one invites themselves into a grouping they can't reasonably expect that grouping to adhere to the rules they set to the level they'd wish. Besides within reasonable limits appreciating the variety of beauty of creations of the universe are one of the benefits to being sentient." She said not unkindly or even upset but Summers was triggering her 'snark mode' and she couldn't quite help it. It helped that she started playing Mozart in her head, it helped keep the first stirrings of annoyance calm.

Deborah looked askance at the security officer. Who had invited this stick-in-the-mud?

Isabel had originally planned to not socialise with any of the crew and focus solely on her work. If she had been more honest with herself, she'd have known this was never going to happen. It didn't help that she had no interest in making friends at all. "If the situation were reversed you would probably be crying sexism and asking for him to be reprimanded."

Jayla grinned. "You don't know me very well at all, do you?" she said, taking the hard lemonade from the bartender. "I'd probably shake my ass for him. As long as he's only looking, I don't mind one bit."

"There is bedside manner and then there is bedside manner." Summers replied to the CMO

Cooper nodded, "As long as it doesn't affect my work, his work and he keeps his hands to himself, why would I care?" her tone was light but there was an underlying tone of curiosity as one who was trying to understand an alien viewpoint at least enough to determine merit. Cooper changed tacks, "Do you want to share what you do for fun or would you rather we left you be?" she asked curiously but honestly. If dealing with them made Summers that crazy on her off time she wasn't going to force the other to hang with them but Cooper was a 'welcome all' sort and so didn't want to exclude off the bat.

"I tend to keep my hormones in check so I doubt you would be interested and I certainly have no desire to bond one on one," Summers turned her attention to the waiter who arrived with her drink. "Think I'll make this my last." She finished turning her back to the Lieutenant, "So Deborah " she said the woman's name with hint of sarcasm, "you're new to the Blackhawk also?"

"Yep." Deborah responded with the shortest answer possible to Summers' question. She ignored the sarcasm - it wasn't worth fighting about and if it were, Deborah was confident that she could handle Summers.

Cooper was amused, Summers was doing everything but piss a circle around herself. Her reply was no more then what she had come to expect. To be honest, she wasn't entirely sure why Summers still wore the uniform considering her apparent complete lack of thinking anyone else had worth. She was getting a handle on her type and mentally sighed. This was going to be a long talk when she got back.

She would try not to make snap judgement but wished though that those who wanted to be left alone, left others alone.

With a shrug that indicated a complete lack of caring she drank her drink and spoke up from behind Summers, while she couldn't care less about Summers opinion toward her, Cooper did care about the rest of the crew. "Putting a sarcastic spin on someone's first name? How Professional of you..." She observed mildly. Her body language relaxed as her tone.

"If I wanted further input from you, I would have asked." Summers called back.

"Okay, okay," said Jayla, cheerfully, but firmly. "That's enough. We're here to have a good time and nobody is to be forced to participate. Let's all just have fun and let everyone else have fun as they see fit, okay?"

"Here here!" Called Selah cheerfully, sipping her daiquiri.

Cooper had stifled a snort of derisive laughter that clearly said, 'Yeah because I live to obey your whim, not...' As she spun around on her bar stool with a fresh drink in her hand, this time lime green, and joined Deb, Shelah and Jayla who were standing nearby, "Well said." She turned to Summers, "Good to meet you." And it was helpful, she needed to have the measure of this new officer so pleasant no, but good yes. "Shall we leave the Lt. to her ruminations?" she directed at Jayla, Selah, and Deb and heads to an empty table by the window.

Isobel downed he remaining contents of her glass and stood, "I'd say the same but I don't lie." She gave a nod to the others and headed for the exit.

Cooper was already across the room and had mentally moved on so Summer's parting shot was like water off a duck's back as she sat down.

TBC

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