Old Fashions and Martinis...

Posted on Wed Feb 15th, 2023 @ 9:59pm by Captain Tristan Faust & Lieutenant Shinobu Miyake

1,288 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: A Fool’s Errand
Location: Deck 5: Captain Faust's Quarters
Timeline: M1 MD09 (2268.24.05) 0445

"Deck 5," he said, "I have some decent stuff at my place. Besides if you need to punch a bulkhead it'll be better to do it there than in the crew lounge."

"Trust me; my fist versus a steel bulkhead? the bulkhead's going to win every time," Lieutenant Miyake sighed. "It is tempting, though, not gonna lie."

"If you're going to punch something, I recommend a pillow or a couch," Tristan responded as the doors opened onto deck 5. He led her to his quarters and ushered her inside. "I try to keep a decent stock," he said pointing her towards his liquor cabinet. Before walking over he looked to the large silver altar crucifix and made the Sign of the Cross towards it.

Though she wasn't admittedly a Christian like Captain Faust was, Lieutenant Miyake was nonetheless a guest in Tristan's guest, and decided it would be respectful to abide by his traditions while in his quarters, and likewise signed the cross before moving over to a large sofa on the far side of the room and setting herself down.

"Presuming you have the ingredients in stock, I could probably go for an Old-Fashioned Bourbon cocktail," she requested, kicking off her boots and making herself comfortable. "Canadian Club Whiskey, a couple Maraschino Cherries, Angostura Bitters, one sugar cube, a couple of orange slices..."

She paused and put a finger to her lip. "Am I forgetting anything?"

"Praying I put the right number of ice cubes in," Tristan responded with a chuckle, "I'll have to blow the dust off of the Canadian Club." He notice her make the sign of the cross in reverence, "And thank you, no one else has done that before," he said before opening the door to the cabinet and pulling out the bottle of whiskey, "Do you practice a faith, may I ask?" He asked. This cocktail was fairly simple and Tristan was no bartender, so if a guest ordered anything fancy they were out of luck.

"Not me, personally, though my mother hails from a Neo-Shintoist family," Lieutenant Miyake replied. "I suppose some of my worldview might be derived from her faith, but I'm nowhere near as devout as she is."

She chuckled to herself a little. "As if my attitude didn't give that away already..."

The Captain chuckled, "You certainly need something to channel your anger through," he said, "Even if not say pick a belief system there are meditations and other things that can help... I wouldn't recommend a Latin rosary though."

Lieutenant Miyake sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you make a good point... I can't always hide from my troubles from behind a tall glass of whiskey, tempting as that is..."

"Lord knows I've tried," Tristan responded, "And I've seen other officers try even harder. It never ends well... Always better to channel your energy in constructive ways." He finally sat down in the Eames chair lounger, glass I hand. He kept his boots on.

"If you've got any suggestions, I'm certainly open to them," Lieutenant Miyake replied. "I don't envision there always being a pillow for me to conveniently punch when I'm being shot at by Orion pirates, so any spur-of-the-moment methods to keep a level head would be greatly welcome.

The Captain thought, "That is tougher," he commented, "Takes a lot of mental discipline to be calm under fire... Takes experience and lots of it." He paused for a moment before continuing, "You need to remember your duty is to yourself and your shipmates not revenge."

"Easier said then done," Lieutenant Miyake chuckled. "It's one thing for Vulcans to keep a level head in a firefight, but humans aren't quite there yet- though we're certainly trying, credit where credit is due."

"I seem to be doing alright and I'm no Vulcan," Tristan retorted, "I think you're selling us all short."

"I'll have you know I would contend those accusations if I didn't already know there was a kernel of truth to what you were saying," Lieutenant Miyake smirked.

The Captain shrugged, "I think talking things out is a good first step," he said, "Talking to me about why you hate the Orions..."

"Well, my prejudices against that whore aside," Lieutenant Miyake explained. "I haven't had much in the way of good experiences when it comes to dealing with Orions that would make me think all that highly of them; see, back when I was still an Ensign, they had me standing guard over an Orion who we had chilling in the drunk tank for punching a Starfleet Officer in the face, and that pig made some of the most disgusting remarks about my body that I dare not share here, because that would be giving his sorry ass too much credit. But I'll say this much, it took a great deal of self-restraint not to storm in there and tear him a new asshole, and it took me an even greater deal of restraint not to surrender my security commission on the spot."

The Captain nodded, "Well I'm glad you didn't go any further... This is the restraint and level headedness that I am talking about," he said, "On duty you need to be professional and keep your own biases out of it. Treat everyone the same... Well every criminal or... We bad guy for that matter."

"God knows I'm trying, to keep a stiff upper lip," Lieutenant Miyake sighed once again. "But then again, I'm sure you can probably attest to that fact?"

The Captain nodded, "You've been cool as a cucumber while in duty... I certainly laud you on that," he said. Then he interjected, "I hope I didn't screw that up," he looked towards her glass.

Lieutenant Miyake only then realized the drink he'd poured for her was still sitting out on the table; quickly bowing her head as a belated showing of thanks, she took the drink and pressed it to her lips.

"Ah... now that's more like it," she sighed, evidently approving of Tristan's concoction.

The Captain nodded, "Good, I'm glad it's decent. Haven't made one in a long time," he responded before taking a drink from his own glass. "And my door's always open if you need to talk something out or blow off steam," he added, "I always have time for my officers."

"Well... I suppose if you're offering to hear me vent my petty grievances every now and then, it's probably a better alternative then just letting it build up until I eventually say something I know I'm going to regret," Lieutenant Miyake admitted.

The Captain nodded, "Always better to talk things through with someone you trust," he responded, "Well, I assume you do at this point."

"Which? The trusting you part or the the airing out my grievances part?"

"The trusting me part," Tristan clarified.

Lieutenant Miyake chuckled. "Well, I gotta say, the circumstances for this shakedown cruise have gone a little beyond the norm, and we've all had to learn to trust one another faster than we're used to. Although, speaking of which..."

She let out a sigh and then promptly stood up. "I suppose it would be a bad look for me to be dilly-dallying around in the Captain's quarters and not looking up Arianna D'Tal like I promised... But I would like to thank you again for the drink, Captain."

"Of course Lieutenant..." Tristan responded, standing up, "I need to get some sleep.. It's 0430. I hope you can get some rest as well."

"Will do, Captain," Lieutenant Miyake bowed before excusing herself from the room, knowing full well she was looking at a long night ahead of her...

 

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