Jingle & Mingle Part 2

Posted on Thu Dec 7th, 2017 @ 1:11pm by Captain Rueben Gregnol & Dixoho Saa (*)
Edited on on Thu Dec 7th, 2017 @ 1:18pm

Mission: Mission 5 - Liberation
Location: Deck 6 - Crew Bar
Timeline: MD -28 20:00
1357 words - 2.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Marcus wore a light tan jacket and pants "So Dixoho ready to go to the party?"

Dixoho hadn't dressed up. She had been to enough crew parties not to bother but she had at least tied her hair up and put on a nice top. "Sure am." She mused softly. She was looking forward to the night out with the man instead of just hanging in her quarters.

A few minutes later, Micheal entered the compartment. He was dressed simply: a comfortable pair of blue jeans, shined black leather cowboy boots, a hunter green-colored polo and a black leather belt with one of the buckles he had won in a rodeo years earlier. He had decided to leave his sidearm locked up in his shuttle, as he didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable at the party.

He did bring with him, however, a bottle of liquor that he had picked up during his travels. He grinned at Reuben as he handed over the short, stocky bottle. "Here, Cap. A bottle of Dremolia. It's kinda like blackberry schnapps from Earth, but with a bit more of a kick. I've got half a case of the stuff in my shuttle, from my time in the Andromeda Galaxy."

"Just for me or do I share?" The Captain wondered, taking the bottle. He enjoyed dremolia to say the least, it had been one source of comfort in his exile years. "Barton used to aquire it from someone." He never asked and Barton never told, it was easier.

The statement caused Micheal to furrow his brows slightly, in confusion. However, he didn't say anything that might seem rude to the Captain. Perhaps this Barton had found a stable wormhole to, linking the two galaxies. If that were the case, he would be a very dangerous man.

Before Micheal could reply, Draia Theroh meandered towards the Captain with her empty hands out in front of her, as if they were a divining rod on the hunt for liquor. "That's not an appropriate question, Cap'n," Draia said, while nodding dramatically towards the bottle of Dremolia. "Of course you share," Draia said, and she lightly punched Michael in the arm affectionately, "You don't want Big Mike to be offended, do you? A gift is meant to be enjoyed to the fullest!"

"Are you just following me around the room?" The Captain demanded with a grin as he filled up his own glass then shared out.

Accepting a fresh glass, Draia admonished the Cap'n, "I'm meeting the crew! I can hardly peek my head above-decks the way you burn out your cargo bays and your fuel inefficiencies. It's time I meet them, and they're all flocking to you like cicadas to the flame."

Micheal took the playful punch with a warm grin. "Well, on the note of meeting the crew, I don't think we've been properly introduced, young lady. Micheal Robertson, Security Chief and Bounty Hunter."

Throwing herself against Micheal in a seemingly careless movement --although she didn't spill a drop of the drink in her glass-- Draia squeezed Micheal into a hug around his mid-chest. "I'm Draia Theroh, pleased to meet you. You can find me below decks in Engineering most every day here," she said. Then she stopped, and she squinted, and she looked at Reuben and then she looked at Michael. "Did you say bounty hunter?" she asked. "We have a bounty hunter?"

"He is non-active whilst he is on this crew," Reuben said rolling his eyes at Draia and her lack of inhibitions and Micheal for his name dropping of being a bounty hunter. They were both as bad as the other. "Most?" Gregnol wondered teasing her a little. The Engineer was fast becoming an ally on the ship, one of the few he had.

He had made no outward recognition of the Cowboy's approach. He did note the lack of a firearm, no bulges or creases where one could be carried. Well at least he thought about his being here. Braden used the distraction of the exchange to slip away. He was picky about who he spent his off-duty time with. He had few friends aboard and for the most part he did not seek any. At least Reuben had said Robertson was not allowed to hunt folks while he was crew, that was a plus one for the captain.

Slowly turning her head in Gregnol's direction, Draia defiantly said, "Some days, you'll find me in the sauna. Some days I wonder how I got caught up with you Federation-types in the first place. You keep your ships so blasted cold." --She hugged Michael again for good measure-- "How do you all keep yourselves warm with such thin skin?"

"You are drinking it," Reuben commented on as he saw a figure across the new Bar hiding pretty much in the shadows watching everything unobserved. It was the first time he had seen her out of Engineering in weeks or not in the company of Amelia. Maybe he would get a chance to exchange a private conversation with Jeassaho afterall. "Excuse me." He murmured making his way to where she sat.

Micheal politely freed himself from the Cardassian's embrace. Though it had been a few years since his wife had been murdered, he still felt wrong about enjoying any physical comfort from the opposite sex. "Pleasure to meet you, Ma'am." He tipped his hat forward slightly as he spoke. "And the Captain's correct. While I am serving this crew, my other employment is on hold. Unless, of course, there are mitigating circumstances. As for whether any of the crew have bounties on their heads, though, they are off-limits."

Draia, meanwhile, was still tingling from the sensation of her body against Michael's. "That makes me wonder," Draia asked, "what exactly is Reuben paying you, or holding over you, to keep you away from that life?"

Micheal arched his right eyebrow as he replied. "The Captain isn't holding anything over me. It's a simple business arrangement. As for what I'm getting played for my services here, well, that's between him and me." He picked up a glass he had filled with the Demolia and raised it to his lips, downing the amber liquid in one smooth gulp. Looking back at Draia, he asked, "And how did you come to be a member of this crew?"

It didn't take Draia long to answer. She hardly had to think about it at all. "My last ship was a dumpster fire with warp nacelles," she said bluntly. She gulped back a shot and then waggled a finger in Michael's face. "Never ever trust a mining ship. Not ever. They're not half as charming as the bottom of a mine shaft. Thankfully, I stole a tankard of deuterium for the Cap'n a few years back and apparently that outweighed the time I stopped him from kidnapping a lady I knew."

Micheal arched his right eyebrow slightly at what he had just heard. It showed more of the type of man that the Captain was. "Well, that sounds like an interesting story."

Frowning with half her body, Draia shook her head in the negative. "The Captain keeps his stories close to the chest," Draia answered. "I don't know what he wanted or why he did it," she said, her eyes wild with frustration, "I just know he wanted one of my crewmates and she walked away from him in the end."

Micheal was unsure of how to respond. Finally, he decided, "Well, clearly things worked out for the best, what with you serving on his ship as his engineer." He filled his glass with more of the dremolia. He then offered to refill Draia's glass.

Raising her glass towards Micheal, Draia chimed in with, "I'll drink to that."

OFF::

Micheal Robertson
Armory Chief / Bounty Hunter
S.S. Mary Rose / Shuttle Alexandria

Draia Theroh
Engineering Chief
S.S. Mary Rose

Reuben Gregnol
Captain
S.S. Mary Rose

Dixoho Saa
Chief Navigator
SS Mary Rose
(PNPC Gregnol)

Markus Bannon
Engineer
SS Mary Rose
(PNPC MacCloud)