A Stranger Appears

Posted on Tue Apr 30th, 2019 @ 12:41am by Captain Kelly O'Connor & Lieutenant Iona Vrell & Lieutenant Shri Thais

2,460 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Mission 6.5 - Obtaining New Crew
Location: Bar
Timeline: 2296/02/12 - 1130

Iona entered the bar, she had debated on checking in with her new CO early, but then she got distracted with finding that antiques store and her new friend, Shri. They'd made plans to meet up again the next day for lunch and more exploration of the station, then parted ways. But, Iona hadn't anything else to do that night, so she decided to go get a drink and mingle at the bar. Maybe she could meet more of her crew here.

As she made her way to the bar, she saw a face that looked vaguely familiar. It took her a moment to realize that it was her new CO. Cautiously making her way over to the woman, dodging a few drunken officers, Iona debated if she should interrupt or just let her be. Finally, she decided she would just say hello and be friendly. This wouldn't have to count as an official reporting in, she could still do that the next morning.

"Captain O'Connor?" She asked just loud enough to be heard over the din. She stood a respectful distance away, but close enough that O'Connor wouldn't have to move to have a conversation.

O'Connor downed another shot of whiskey and asked, with her Irish accent starting to come through, "Who is it that want to know that kind o' information?" The redheaded woman gazed at Iona with sharp green eyes that started to penetrate towards Iona's soul.

"Doctor Iona Vrell," she said with a slight smirk. The Captain was feisty, Vrell liked that. "Your new chief medical officer," she added with a shrug of her shoulders. "As you can see, I arrived early and figured I'd give you some downtime before I checked in. Didn't expect to run into you here."

"And yet, here ye be," O'Connor observed. "Just could'n help yourself, could ya?" she asked, a crooked smile showing on the redhead's face. "Well, if you're gonna be my Chief Medical Officer, I'd suggest ye gettin' used to my habits. Lord knows that I'm already missin' my last one, and her lummox of a brother, well, one in particular."

Iona smiled. "Well, I decided to see what all the fuss about this bar was," she said with a shrug. "And you just happened to be here, in the path I chose to take to the bar. Though, what particular habits should I be aware of?" She asked, tilting her head to the side and giving O'Connor a once over. This was, by far, the strangest meeting with a Captain she'd ever had to date. And the strangest Captain she'd ever met.

"I don't know what ye need to be aware of. Isn't that what ye doctors always be about? Figuring out people?" she asked, her green eyes looking at Iona accusingly.

"That's counselors and psychiatrists," Iona shrugged. "I'm just a simple doctor and general surgeon. I fix what's broken, but that's about it." She waved a waitress over and asked for a Trill amber shot.

"Thankfully counselors and psychiatrists are not required on starships yet," O'Connor said sipping a glass of alcohol. She then turned to Iona and said, "So, what be ye drinking, Doc? I do not see a glass in ye hand and that is a problem."

She then did a double take, looking at the Trill. "I have not yet drank enough to be more than tipsy," O'Connor told Iona. "But, perhaps I lost count. You are either a Trill or I'm seeing spots on you, which of course, would be normal if ye are a Trill but if ye not...."

Iona smirked at O'Connor. "You be seeing correctly," she said with a laugh. "And yes, I am Trill. And I just asked the waitress for a drink, though I doubt they have what I was asking for. Do you have any suggestions? I've not tried many Terran alcohols yet."

"Then you are missing out," O'Connor boasted confidently. "There is nothing better than Irish whiskey! I swear by it." She looked seriously at the doctor and asked, "What did you order?"

Shri had wandered around and decided it was time for a drink. An actual drink, from one of the best bars here. Having the rare clip on one side of her hair, she found her way into the bar and stopped in her tracks. Smirking, she walked over and tapped Iona on the shoulder, "Iona, what brings you..." she stopped dead and saw who she was talking to, knowing the other person only by face. "Captain O'Connor?"

The redhead gave Shri a look up and down and then turned to Iona and asked, "You know her?"

"We met earlier today, while scouring the station for an antique store," Iona smiled warmly to Shri. "Captain O'Connor, this is Lieutenant Shri Thais, your chief scientist. Shri, this is Captain O'Connor. Now, we know each other's names and positions, shall we start drinking?" A mischievous smile crept onto her face.

The waitress came back and announced they did not have Trill amber shot and inquired if Iona wanted a real drink this time. She seemed quite miffed at the wasted time. "I'll have whatever she's having," Iona said, gesturing to O'Connor. "And tell your barkeep he needs to expand his horizons. There will be more Trill here eventually..."

"I had hoped to check in on the ship tomorrow. Guess that changed. Pleasure to meet you, Captain." Shri smiled. "I agree though, introductions are done and drinking should happen. If that is okay with you that is ma'am."

O'Connor laughed at Shri. "Are ye asking me for permission to drink when ye are not duty?" her Irish accent coming out as she downed another shot of Irish whiskey. "Ye are either a suck up or scared of me. I prefer the latter to the former in case ye are wondering."

She then turned back to Iona. "I must admit that I am intrigued by having a Trill on my ship. As a non-Federation member, ye must be something of a novelty and I do like having something else that nobody else does."

Shri chuckled, “Oh no no, just making sure you didn’t have anything else to tell me before I started in.” She ordered a tropical daiquiri and waited, listening to the other two.

O'Connor looked at Shri and asked, "So, ye are my Chief of Science, then?" O'Connor asked in her lyrical Irish accent. "Tell me, shall we conduct an experiment of whether ye think ye can out drink me?"

"You're challenging a half-Vulcan and a Trill? Now I can hold my drinks, but I don't know about Iona." Shri took a sip of her drink once it arrived.

"I'm fine with being a novelty, but don't put me on display like a trophy," Iona smirked at O'Connor. She heard the challenge and laughed. "I'm sure this will be fun!" She took her drink from the waitress and took a test sip. "Oooh, that's got quite the flavour," she laughed. "The only problem there, O'Connor is that you've already had a drink, if not more. Wouldn't be fair if we had to catch up!"

Shri laughed, "That too! That'd be a lot in one go just to catch up. I don't mind competition but that just wouldn't be fair."

"I've had more than one, less than a dozen so far. But it matters not to me for ye all cannot out drink me."

"Challenge on!" Iona laughed and sat down, waiving the waitress over, she held up the shot glass and grinned. "Keep them coming!" The waitress rolled her eyes, but nodded. As soon as she walked away, Iona downed the rest of her shot and coughed slightly. 'You're going to regret this in the morning,' she thought, but didn't care.

Downing the rest of her drink quickly, Shri nodded to the waitress. “Same here, this sounds like far too much fun.”

The petite Captain gave her new chiefs a crooked smile. Perhaps have a new crew would not be so bad. These two seemed to be quite a bit of fun.

The waitress delivered shot glasses to all of the women. "Bottoms up!" O'Connor exclaimed, feeling her second wind coming on.

Grabbing one of the shot glasses, Shri realized it'd been a while since she'd had anything strong to drink. Downing the shot, she could feel the burn but it was a good burn.

Iona downed the next shot quickly, this time it didn't make her cough, but it did burn going down. Vrell was in the back of her mind chiding her for taking on this silly challenge, though still cheering her on to defeat O'Connor. Iona was sure she would fail horribly, but it was still fun and a great way to get to know her new CO.

O'Connor slammed the drink and then slammed the glass down on the counter. "Another round for me and my friends!" she called to the bartender. "This is going to be a fun day," she concluded.

Pulling over another shot, Shri raised it to the others before downing it again. This stuff had a kick, and she would likely regret it later, very much regret. Getting to where she could sleep it off could be fun too. "It is indeed going to be fun!"

"Both of ye are definitely gonna to make me miss my old crew a lot less," O'Connor admitted in a rare moment of openness. "A half-Vulcan, unless I miss my guess and my very own Trill," O'Connor puffed with pride.

“Blonde half-Vulcan to boot, Captain. I’m a rarity,” Shri stated as she let the most recent shot settle.

Iona tossed back another drink and laughed. "You've got yourself two trophies," she giggled. "Better not collect any more of us or your parade of trophies will take you out of the limelight," she teased, waving over the barkeep who pushed another shot in front of each of them. "Hey, Cap... how much drink would it take to get you to dance with me?"

"Take me out of the limelight? Hardly?" she said with a laugh. "See this red? All natural and that's all the way down, ladies." She gave the Trill and the half-Vulcan a crooked grin. "And ye ain't gonna get me dancin' at any point, Vrell. Certainly not here."

"What, you wouldn't dance if we got you drinking enough?" Shri said as she downed another shot. "I'm not telling if the blonde goes all the way down or not, but I don't straighten my hair, it's plain flat." Her words came out slightly slurred but she didn't care. This was too much fun.

"No dancing," O'Connor replied firmly. Her Irish lilt was still there but for whatever reason, she did not seem to get further affected by the alcohol.

"You're no fun Miss O'Connor," Iona grinned impishly. "And for me, same colour all the way down too," she poked Shri. "Why won't you confirm what colour is all natural for you? Are you embarrassed? What will it take to learn what colour goes all the way down?"

Shri shrugged and held another shot in her hand but wasn't drinking it. "You don't get to find out, no matter what you try to do."

"Embarrassed?" O'Connor roared. "Most certainly not!" She gave an interested look at Iona, "Are you hitting on me, Iona?"

“Fine,” Shri said, glancing to the two of them. “Jeez you two. Same all the way down, okay?” She down the next shot and sighed.

Iona laughed and downed another shot. "Only so long as I don't get fired before I start," she said to O'Connor. In truth, she hadn't yet started hitting on the Captain, but with the amount of drink in her system, she would soon. Vrell reminded herself to slow down, but the next round was already placed in front of them. "I could if you want me to though," she added with a smirk.

"Well," O'Connor confided in Iona, putting her hand by her face so nobody but Iona and Shri could hear, "ye seem trustworthy enough. I have a fuck buddy. He might think we're in a relationship. Maybe I do. I don't know. Don't matter. I'm hoping his ship comes in so I can take my frustration out on him, if ye get my meaning." She gave a crooked smile at the ladies. "Don't tell. It is a secret." She then turned to the Vulcan and said, "Good on you for coming out of your shell and tellin' it straight."

Shri smirked at the confession by O'Connor, and then stuck her tongue out. "Oh none of you would have figured it out anyways and besides," she said as she eyed even more shorts coming in, "Who knows if I'm telling the truth?"

"Vulcans lie?" O'Connor asked curiously. "I have half a mind to order you to strip, now."

"Half Vulcan! I grew up on Earth more than I did on Vulcan. And I sure as hell am not stripping down in the bar."

"I have a few of those," Iona said to O'Connor before turning to Shri. "Well, we could take this to my temporary quarters here on the station then!" A devilish smirk grew across her face. "Then the beautiful Captain can see all she wants."

O'Connor told Shri, "We could always go down to the Cantina, and you could do it there!" O'Connor snickered and her crooked smile widened. "What do you think of that idea, Iona? Taking Shri here to the Cantina?"

"Cantina? Oooh, I've not been there before. I think we should," Iona grinned. "I'm always up for adventure!"

"Oooh! I like you!" O'Connor said rising from her chair, slapping Iona on the back, and showing that she was an entire five feet in height, if that. The diminutive Captain said, "If you like mostly naked women, you will definitely like it. Frankly, that does nothing for me but I mostly enjoy the reactions from walking in."

"I like mostly naked people," Iona grinned and shrugged and downed the last of her shot. "Alright, let's go on an adventure!" She held out her arm to link with Shri's.

Blinking, not sure what to think about this, Shri knew she’d not get out of it. Getting off her seat, she made sure she wasn’t already too fuzzy headed to walk and linked her arm with Iona’s. “Why am I agreeing to even go again?”

"Alcohol and peer pressure, I assume," Iona grinned and patted Shri's hand. "And because you're curious as to what you'll see?" Iona's words were slightly slurred and she was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol, but she was having a very good time so far.

 

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