A Friendly Drink

Posted on Tue Jul 28th, 2020 @ 1:12pm by Lieutenant Commander Cor Cordale & Commander Temperance Zachary

Mission: Episode 04: "Tempest"
Location: The Hearthstone Lounge
Timeline: Day 1 at 0000

The Hearthstone lounge was always an inviting place. As the hearth was the true center of the universe, the hearthstone lounge was the center of the ship, a place filled with crew just being themselves, even more so since the return from shore leave. Now the crew gathered to share stories and experiences, something Temperance found a welcome change of pace to the usual silence of her quarters.

Grabbing a drink from the bar, she glanced around, looking for a table, her gaze finally settling on a lonely Thux sitting alone, a Thux who stood out against the rest of the surroundings. Approaching the table, she motioned to the empty chair across from him. "Do you mind if I join you Lieutenant?" she asked with a smile.

The Thux was at his own table, though he had two extra glasses on his side. All three the same: scotch, neat, in a tumbler. "By all means Commandah." he motioned to the chair to doubly indicate it was for her. "Just, I dunno, drinking with ghosts." he glanced over at the other two glasses. "It's ... It's a thing."

"I'm sure your brothers are drinking with you, at least in spirit," she offered softly, recalling his words at their first meeting regarding his origins. Picking up her own glass, she held it toward him slightly. "To your brothers, gone, but never forgotten," she spoke with a smile.

He tapped his glass to her's, "To freedom, and the price paid." and, as custom, he took the glass back for a solid pull. "Ooooo, thank the Source for scotch." he paused, "So, Commandah, how's your night been? I'm very familiar with the wirin' for the Slipstream, I tell you."

Temperance laughed and took a sip of her drink. "So you've been doing your research then?" she asked. "Probably a good thing that someone knows how to handle it because honestly, if it were left to me, we'd be space swimming in EV suits."

"Well I heard that the ting' wasn't working right, and as the only guy in Engineerin' with hands and fingers that work, seems I gotta fix it. I don't like it, but dang if dere's no one else but me to do the job. So that's me, crawlin' round the tubes and crawlspaces followin' cable after cable." he shook his head, "Dere's a lot involved in dat damn thing. Maybe too much."

"It's a far cry from the regular warp core we're all used to," Temperance said with a smile. "But, we work with what we have, don't we," she said quietly. "Have you ever been in a ship travelling using the QSD?" she asked curiously. "I mean outside of the holodeck simulations?"

"Nope. Dis is the first." he motioned around to the interior of the Vesta. "Though I suppose that was bound to change. I chat with some other engineers around the Fleet. Mostly replicator groups and how to groups. Seems everyone wants them. Captains from all over dah Fleet are puttin' in requisitions for 'em, and if they don't get 'em, they want to be transferred to a ship that's already got 'em." he said with a smirk. "I don't see what the big deal is, but I'm just a humble Thux."

"We take our time, we see the sights, we do tings right. Says so in the Book o' dah Thux." a smirk, another swig, "It's something I've been working on for a while. Maybe goin' on years now. It's.... well, it ain't no holy text that's for damn sure. More of an instruction manual. A guide. How to live, and how we lived. Thux, that is." he paused, "So that, you know, when my time comes, if no one ain't found em, found any more Thux, then there's a thing. A ... A think I did, that says 'Yeah, we was here.'. All the friends in space are nice, but... if you wanna be remembered, you gotta leave sometin' behind."

"It feels almost unnatural to travel at such speeds," Temperance said quietly. "And what is happening in the universe that we're missing out on because we're so desperate to get somewhere quickly." She shook her head slightly. "Slow and steady wins the race, isn't that what the old adage says?"

"I like that. Mind if I borrow it?" he asked, before taking a swig to finish off his drink. A pause, before he took one of the other glasses, "Sil's gotta cut back." the Thux said, as though covering for a brother that wasn't there. "But you're right, always in a hurry. Zip zip get here, zip zip get there. I mean, it's silly when you tink about it. Five hundred times the speed'a light is too slow for some folks." he gave a good chuckle. "I tink you and I are gonna be good friends. You gotta good head on your shoulders, and a Thux can recognize character a mile away."

"So, mind if I ask you a question? Nuttin' personal, just a question question."

"Ask away," Temperance replied with a smile. "But if it's about the inner machinations of the QSD, you might need to redirect that so someone who knows the difference between a plasma coil and an isolinear rod."

"One's a donut, one's a fry." he said with a smirk, 'educating' her with a chuckle. "Nah, just, always curious. What got you into Starfleet? I know why I got in, just always curious what gets folks to join up."

"That..." Temperance said with a smile. "Is kind of a long story. Suffice it to say, because of my childhood, there wasn't a lot of options. I have a knack for linguistics, and an Uncle who went out on a limb to sponsor my joining the Academy. I was lucky, it paid off and here I am." she took a sip of her drink and watched the Thux for a moment. "Most of the time I love it, except for the transporters of course."

He offered a smirk, "Think you dislike em' now, knowing exactly how they work don't help." he chuckled, "They make my hand itch. And one day when I find my hand, I'll finally be able to scratch it." he chuckled again.

"Nah, I joined because I had a chat with my boss a long time ago, and he said I gotta get out there and do somethin' with my life. See, I used to work at a little out of the way outpost. Fixing engines, doing grease jobs, the lot. I had... I had just bought my freedom, and well I didn't know nuthin to do with it. So I became a mechanic. Came natural."

"Some uniform comes in, talking about his career. Says I can go places. I'll be honest, the only place I ever wanted to go, was to whatever world we all went to once we was outta that mine." he paused, and took a swig, "I can't find it alone, but if Starfleet found it, they'd tell me. So, I signed up." a smirk.

"As for going in because of the family, I guess family can be a pretty big motivator. Gotta do them proud and all, but don't forget about yourself. You need a little proud too." he motioned to her with his glass.

"Sometimes more than others," Temperance said with a smile. "Well, I guess the good thing about the Vesta is that we have lots of people who are unique, so you're among wonderful company."

"Ain't dat the truth." he said with a smile. "You got your fresh outta academy folks who tink the answer is always dah deflector array, then you got your down to Source Thux who know bettah." he chuckled, "I like variety as much as the next Thux, but you know what, I'd give everything I got to see a familiar face."

His posture drooped a bit. Dangerously close to Mopey Thux territory, but Cor knew that, so he perked back up a bit. "Still, everywhere I go I gotta friend. I think that's the important part. Meet new people, and work to better yourself. That's the Thux way." a sip.

"I should know. I wrote it." a chuckle. "Oh, and before you ask, it's true. The navigational deflector is always the go-to last resort. Don't ask me why, I'm still figuring that out. Sure, it's versatile, but so is an apple. And just like an apple, if you wanna appreciate the versatility, you gotta break it in some way."

A chuckle again from the Thux, "And before you ask, I happen to like apples. Just not the skin. Gets stuck between my teeth, then I look like a dork fishing it out, and I usually bite my tongue doing it too."

Temperance laughed suddenly at his comment. "Thank you, Lieutenant Cordale," she said, her voice still light with laughter. "You have really turned my day around. It's always good to have a laugh with a friend, makes everything else seem irrelevant."

He gave her a smile, "Always happy to help." a raise of his glass, and he polished it off. "Thux make the best friends." he chuckled, "Says so in the book. We promise to make ourselves better a little each day, and with that, we might just make someone else a little better too. What are the odds, right?"

"But, at the risk of sounding serious, you're always welcome wherever I am. My table, my office, just walkin' down the hallway. I'm glad to be your friend."

"Likewise," Temperance replied with an easy smile as she picked up her glass and held it toward him. "Wherever we may be, may we always find the hand of a friend."

He touched glasses with her, and gave a good chuckle. "Dat's a good one. I'd keep it for myself, but some folks might think I'm sending them out on a scavenger hunt or somethin'." a slow pull from the glass. "No, no I like that."