Coffee and Congratulations

Posted on Mon Aug 16th, 2021 @ 9:56pm by Commander Temperance Zachary & Lieutenant Commander Cor Cordale

Mission: Episode 05: "Deep Water"
Location: Crew Mess
Timeline: Day 1 at 0000

The closer they got to launch it seemed the busier they got and the more demands were being made on her time. They were necessary, of course. Their upcoming mission was going to be intense, to say the least, and there was lots of prep work that needed to be done, a lot of attention to detail to make sure everything was done correctly. It was the reason she was up well before her scheduled duty shift was due to start, and why she was still working well after her duty shift was scheduled to end. Though, at this late hour, she was heading for the mess hall. Despite the late hour, the pangs in her stomach highlighted the fact that she hadn't eaten since the bowl of fruit she'd had before leaving her quarters that morning.

As she entered the mess hall, she saw the familiar figure of the Thux Chief Engineering Officer hunched over one of the tables, customary mug in hand. A smile crossed her lips as she headed for the replicator, ordering some food and carrying the tray across to the table. "Mind if I join you?" she asked, slipping into the seat without waiting for a response. "Rumour has it that you got promoted. Congratulations," she said warmly, her voice resonating with genuine happiness.

"Sure, go right ahead." the Thux said with a smirk as he motioned to where she was already sitting. Before him was a pair of somethings. A ball of cornbread, from the looks of it, with a heart of meat. Some thick fries were off to the side, slathered in ketchup. He chuckled, "Good ting I said yeah." he said, in good spirits. Until.

Promoted.

An innocent word to the cosmos. A death sentence to his people. How to take an innocent word and turn it into a horror story. This bit of upward mobility he earned on his own merit. Not because of a vacancy. That thought always comforted him. Though, the word's barbs weren't her fault. To her, it was a joyous word. A celebratory word.

"Thanks. Gonna be fumblin' with the new pip for a week. Source help me if it's magnetic, gonna be sticking to the left for hours." he deflected the memories with humor. As always. He held up his museum-era prosthetic as a reference. In case the blue fur and dashing good looks distracted her. "You all set for the race? Reminds me of all the supply runs they had me on in my early days." he chuckled, "Didn't want me on no pleasure cruises anymore, not after I told off one'a dah guests. Nope, put me on runner ships, stripped for speed." he looked out the 'window' towards the stars. "Everyting' comes full circle. So, you gettin' ready?"

There was a fleeting expression, something she only caught the briefest hint of before it was gone. "Ready seems a fluid concept at this point," Temperance said with a laugh, picking up a fry from her plate. While his were covered in ketchup, hers were drowned in crispy bacon, gooey melted cheese and drizzled in ranch. "Every time I think I'm getting somewhere and can cross something else off my list I get three more things to add to it," she said with a laugh. She shook her head as she chewed, swallowing before she spoke again. "I'll be honest, I feel a bit out of my depth. This mission is something I never thought I'd be undertaking..." she bit down on her bottom lip momentarily. "At least I'm better off than a lot of the crew, I don't have family to say goodbye to."

"Neither do I..." He idly rubbed his living hand along the smoothest looking plate of his prosthetic forearm. A phantom pain, perhaps... or a phantom's pain. "At least, not the type of family you leave behind."

He skimmed through his memory of what she just said for a distraction. Oh good, the mission. That'll work!

"Now, you're tinking about this the wrong way. You're seeing dah big picture. Dat'll drive you nuts. You gotta look at the next thing on your list. Nuthin' else." he explained, his accent coming out as he got more and more animated, more and more excited. "See, I got like, I dunno, a thousand things I gotta do everyday for the next six months. My friggin' tail is gonna fall off probably after then first month, 'scuze my Ferengi." he pardoned himself. "Bein' ready ain't about having nuthing on the list. It's about being able to put something on that list without having a breakdown. I'm... I'm almost there." he admitted, with a smirk. He paused to take a chomp of some fries, and then a chomp of the cornbread ball beef core.... thing.

"Ain't nuthin like this ever been done before. So we gotta do it, cause setting a precedent for failure ain't in the Book of the Thux." Cordale said, pride in his voice. "We do our best, we keep our word, we do better each day. Dat's the Thux way. Wait, is that bacon?" he looked at her fries. "They come with bacon?"

"Anything can come with bacon if you ask for it," Temperance replied with a shrug, pushing the plate toward him. "Help yourself if you want."

"Yeah sure, but some things don't GO with Bacon. Bacon goes with everything, you see, but sometimes it ain't mutual." he explained with a chuckle, reaching across with his prosthetic to snatch up a fry or two. The perk of artificial fingers was they couldn't get burned. "Just gonna have this one chomp here. If I like it, I'll get my own. No point in eating your food too." he chuckled, and took the chomp. A pause, a chew, an appraisal, and then a swallow. "Oooo, dat's good." a quick swig of whatever his drink was to wash it down. Smelled vaguely of root beer.

"I like it. Wanna chomp of a hamburger muffin?" he offered the untouched one in return. "Muffin bread is too flaky, but cornbread holds up great. Still, Cornbread Burger doesn't sound as tasty as Hamburger Muffin."

"Food. The universal language." he chuckled.

Temperance shifted the fries between them so he could help himself and pulled her sandwich in front of her. "BLT, extra B, no L, no T," she said with a grin as she lifted the top piece of lightly toasted sourdough so he could see the stack of bacon between the bread. "I guess I'm making up for all three meals at once." She laughed and shook her head. "There was a cafe near the Academy when I was there, Bacon All The Way and everything on their menu was based on bacon. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, everything had bacon. It was..." She paused, picking up a fry and chewing as she thought before replying. "It was unique."

He gave his cornbread ball (with bite mark) a chomp, before moving onto the fries. "Bacon All The Way, eh? Sounds festive. Like that one holiday with the big guy in red, and the magic deer and ... eh, you know the one." he waved off the notion, but kept his attention at the moment at hand. "Loving that sandwich. Regular bread gets caught in my teeth, so I need something heavy, but I can get behind a bacon sandwich. Doc says I should take it easy, but I'm waiting on a second opinion." he chuckled.

"Hey, thanks. I don't celebrate a rise up in the ranks like most folks do. So, thanks for stopping by and noticing." all the bravado and all the gumption was gone. This was the core of the Thux. Humility, maybe. Charm, sure. Honestly, yes.

Temperance didn't know what a promotion meant to the Thux, but given what she'd learned so far from their conversations she could only assume it wasn't something good. "I'll be back in a moment," she said quietly before disappearing into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with four glasses balanced on a tray on one hand, each glass containing something approximating a measure of scotch.

Carefully, she set one glass in front of the Thux, two glasses just to the side of him and next to her own plate before placing the empty tray on a nearby table and returning to her seat.

"Everyone acknowledges things in their own way," she said softly. "Nothing to say we can't do it with Scotch, Bacon and a silent thought for lost brothers."

Cordale reached for one of the glasses, brushing away some pesky space dust. "In dah English language, Temperance means moderation, usually in regards to booze." he smiled, "Booze and bacon, check, but no Thux ain't done nothin' worth doin' in silence." he snickered, "Sil... Cal... Meet Temperance. My commandah... My friend." he took a slow pull. "You're part of the inner circle now."

Temp smiled and inclined her head ever so slightly before raising her own glass to her lips. "To brothers and friends."