Alley Cats

Posted on Thu Jun 29th, 2023 @ 11:46pm by Ensign Tobias "Toby" Dienstag & Lieutenant JG Marcel Knowles
Edited on on Sat Jul 1st, 2023 @ 10:53pm

1,791 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission 4: Through a Glass, Darkly
Location: Deck 20, Aft Section: Bowling Alley
Timeline: M4 MD01 (2268.07.10) 2000

Lieutenant Junior Grade Marcel Knowles had been mostly keeping to himself lately, staying out of the way of others and trying to work through everything that had been on his mind. He was in the Operations division in the Engineering department, and murmurs went around the starship that the Chief Engineer position was softly filled, that an opening was coming or that it could change if the right person expressed interest. He honestly was not sure that he was the right person at least not yet. Marcel was young and he did not really seek to hide that from others. What had intended to be just a simple aimless walk through the starship to clear his head had taken him to the starship's bowling alley. Huh he thought. He did not know why he hadn't ever ventured into it before other than bowling wasn't really something he had ever done except a few times as a child.

He was nearly surprised to see Toby there, but in a way that was comforting. "Hey Toby," he said to the young officer. Marcel had been out a few times in larger groups with Ensign Tobias Dienstag but Marcel had not spent much time getting to know anyone one on one. Generally speaking, Lieutenant Michael Amato was often within sight of Toby. "No Mike tonight?" asked Marcel.

The young man let out his typically innocent boyish smile, "Hi Marcel, and no... Not tonight," he responded before setting the bright iridescent blue ball down onto the ball return. "What brings you down here? Care for a game?" He asked eagerly.

"Uh..." Marcel looked nervously. Do I? which caused him to immediately decide absolutely yes. "Yeah, sure, but I haven't been to a bowling alley since I was little. You might have to go easy on me until I remember what I'm doing" he explained as he found a bright bubblegum pink ball with a swirling pattern to it. "I was just on a walk. Trying to clear my head and figure stuff out."

"Eh a game of bowling practically plays itself," Toby offered, "It's a good game to think, but not think, if that makes any sense... Reminds me of Vulcan meditation, all about clearing your mind." He was still smiling completing his usual doe eyed look.

Marcel smiled. "Somehow I imagine bowling with you might be a little different than just a game that plays itself. I could picture you observing and doing some quick mathematical calculations in your head, finding the right formula to improve the probability of strikes" commented Marcel. "I like the decorations and ambiance here. It has a certain period feel to it" he added taking it all in.

The young man chuckled, "I'll have to whip out my abacus for some of it," he responded, "And yeah, Starfleet enjoys their classic designs although I think the Captain had a hand with the color scheme."

"That tracks," replied Marcel. "Captain Faust does seem to have a flair for retro and classic looking designs. I wouldn't be surprised if he has what they called 'muscle cars' stored away in cargo somewhere" teased the engineering officer. "An abacus you said? Do you actually have one of those because I believe it. Does this place have a concessions stand or a bar?"

"He does actually... A 1964 Pontiac LeMans, except it's in San Francisco in a garage," Toby commented, "And someone got me an abacus as a gag gift a few years ago..." He looked up and around behind them and pointed, "It's up there, but it's not much of one," he said.

"Darn, can't go joyriding if it's in San Francisco" he said jokingly. "That's alright. I'm sure they have something palatable to snack on maybe a milkshake?" He was glad that it was Toby that he happened upon in the bowling alley, but he couldn't help but to feel a little nervous around him. "How about it, Tobster?"

"Sure," Toby responded, starting to walk up the steps towards the unmanned bar, "I'm one of those people who would rather drown their troubles in chocolate versus alcohol anyway..."

Marcel nodded. "I know what you mean. I rather just listen to music, read something, or indulge in sweets rather than drink away my troubles" he stated. "You definitely don't seem the type to drown their troubles with whiskey" teased Marcel. He followed Toby.

"Neither do you," Toby responded with a smirk as they approached the bar. He stopped at the synthesizer and keyed in the sequence, "Oh, what I would give for a fresh milkshake... Everything I've read and my own experiments have told me that there is no difference between synthesized and natural... But I still don't believe it... Mind playing tricks I guess."

Marcel smiled. "Maybe that's something for us to look into? The two of us in search for a good old fashioned actual milkshake" he said. "We're going to have to have shore leave at some point."

"Sounds like a good idea," Toby responded as the synthesizer did its thing, "Although I wonder where we are going to have shoreleave next. I doubt there are many cows on Starbase 10... Bigger question is when? We didn't stick around Nimbus III or Starbase 10 all that long. Although Nimbus III looked like a shithole."

"Because it is," Marcel quipped and chuckled. He had not expected Toby to use the term 'shithole' to describe a place. Marcel keyed in his own order. "Ideally the next place won't be a shithole."

The ensign chuckled as he retrieved the double chocolate milkshake from the synthesizer, "Looks decent enough, but I have been messing with the protocols on the backend," Toby added, "Don't tell Car Crash."

Marcel nodded in agreement. "Oh your secret is safe with me," he said retrieving his order from the synthesizer. Two straws. He looked at Toby and gestured to a place for them to sick. "Share?" asked Marcel coyly. He's not usually alone. Mike is usually around. Don't mess this up Marcel thought to himself.

"Ah sure," Toby responded, "I don't really need to pack any on." He chuckled as they say down at the high top table. He set the milkshake down onto the orange Formica table top.

"You could pack on more and still look great" Marcel shot back. Toby looked like he was barely a hundred pounds soak and wet. "I've been thinking about things lately, about not doing things that I should."

Toby chuckled, "Thank you," he responded, accepting the compliment. "Oh? What sort of things? Always fun to do the unexpected," he commented.

Maybe Toby. Maybe not thought the engineering officer. I don't think Mike would appreciate me doing the unexpected right now, and how would you react? "Well," Marcel began. "I don't know. I thought maybe trying to go for Chief Engineer, but I don't know if that's for me."

"Oh, I'd definitely say go for it," Toby responded eagerly, "The Captain has been promoting from within the crew to fill the vacancies. I heard he's promoting Syaffia to chief and she just graduated."

"Fresh from the academy," Marcel stated. "That was when you met Mike isn't it? You were just a cadet at the time" he said as he ventured to bring up the relationship. "You've been together since then?"

"Oh, ahhh..." Toby responded as the subject suddenly changed, "I was a sophomore cadet, he was a medical student. Hit it off pretty well, hot and heavy pretty quickly... Been a little over two years."

Marcel was able to slurp up some milkshake through his straw and swallowed hard when Toby replied. Hot and heavy. That was not exactly what he wanted to hear, and they've been together for over two years. "How did you know that he was..." Marcel felt uncomfortable saying it. "That Mike was the right guy for you."

"Well, he showed me the ropes of Starfleet, we both exposed each other to new interests," Toby responded, "Even his family was nice and welcoming... I don't know, we just sort of fit together. I don't know if he's the one, I guess it's hard to know unless you've been together forever."

"Or take the risk," Marcel said. He looked at Toby. "The risk of letting yourself see outside the box, color outside the lines, and entertain the thought there's more out there...to seek out and explore."

"Yeah I suppose," Toby responded, "Still, it's nice to have someone to come home to." He gave a naive grin.

Oh Toby thought the engineer with a small sigh, taking one last sip of the milkshake and wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his uniform, and got up from his seat. "Thanks Tobster" he said to the man.

Marcel began to walk away but stopped. He turned back and looked at Toby. Coming back to the table near Toby's seat, Marcel touched his hand to Toby's face, tilted the ensign's head up slightly and pressed his lips softly to Toby's for a moment. He naturally retracted from the kiss, nit wanting to force anything.

"You'll never see the spark that's hidden in your heart on the dark side of the moon" Marcel whispered. "You know where to find my if you care to explore the dark side of the moon."

"And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes, I'll see you on Dark Side of the Moon," Toby responded, clearly on a different reference than Marcel.

"Toby," Marcel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I kissed you. Get your abacus and calculate what that might mean."

"That you have a thing for me," Toby responded, not surprised, "I kinda wondered if you did... This confirms that hypothesis." His doe eyed expression didn't change.

Marcel was relieved that Toby could at least put two and two together. "How could I not" the engineer replied simply. "Sorry if I just messed up our friendship, but I've spent too many restless nights wanting to do that."

"No... You didn't mess up our friendship," Toby responded. Then he stuttered for a moment, "But... I... Don't know if I feel the same." He was honest, if nothing else, a true scientist to the bitter end.

"That's fine," Marcel stated. "Study it. Analyze it. Do the calculations. Whatever you need to do, Toby. If you don't feel the same way... I won't try that again." Marcel wasn't sure he had anything more to add. "Goodnight, Toby."

"We never did play that game of bowling," Toby said as Marcel left the bowling alley, leaving Toby to his thoughts. He wasn't sure what he was going to do... One way or another...

 

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