A Night Not to Forget(Back Post)
Posted on Wed Mar 22nd, 2023 @ 1:54pm by Lieutenant JG Evelyn Stewart & Commander Vianola Paxidor
3,245 words; about a 16 minute read
Mission:
Short Treks
Location: Lt Commander Vianola's Quarters, then various
Timeline: MD 12: 21:00 - LATE
Evelyn had been working on convincing Vi to join her at one of the few spots on the planet that didn't have a strong Romulan presence all day. Now she was waiting around for her to change. "Come on, Vi! No one is going to care what you are wearing after an hour." She teased, finding the situation both amusing and frustrating as her patience was wearing thin. They were supposed to meet Ben and his friends half an hour ago at the little dive bar on the beach.
"You know you just sprang this on me an hour ago!" Vi yelled from the other room. "You cannae just show up and expect a girl to be ready." There was shuffling in the back but she was out before long.
Vi appeared from behind the half opened doors wearing a flowery dress, kind of short on the legs but still graceful and sweet to look at. Almost seen as a complete opposite as her persona projected.
She gestured as if to ask 'well?' before moving any further. "If you like it we can go, and don't just say you do because I'll know you're lying..." she pointed to her head. "Empath remember?"
Evelyn just quietly chuckled to herself at Vi’s complaining. If you only agreed the first time I asked when on duty this wouldn’t be an issue, Stewart thought before moving away from the wall she was leaning on to look Vianola over. She gave a look as if she had to think it over hard. “Well, it depends.” She said with a false earnestness. “What exactly are Commander Paxidor’s intentions tonight?” She asked with a mischievous smirk before laughing.
"Oh it is Miss Paxidor when off duty." she teased back as she spun herself around as the dress barely moved from her body. "And it all depends on the intentions of others. Does Ms Stewart have wild, uncontrollable intentions for Ben and company?" she smirked.
Evelyn laughed and gestured to Vianola's shoes. "Lose the shoes. This place is on the beach and I'd hate to see you break ankle trying to navigate in dark.", she said honestly. Stewart herself was in fitted grey pants and emerald tank that hugged her body, accentuating her sun-kissed skin even more. She had simple, comfortable brown sandals that did nothing to make up for the height difference between the women.
Evelyn shrugged at Vi's question and smiled. "I prefer to see where the night takes us. It's more fun that way.", she laughed while she waited. "Anything I should know about before we go?" She asked, remembering the abysmal night that Max drank himself into a stupor in front of half the Romulans in Golden Towers. She wanted to not only be prepared, but make sure Vi was comfortable. A dive that doubled as a gambling den, in this region of space, could get pretty rowdy. While Stewart may have spent most of her teen years in such an environment, she wasn't sure how Vianola felt about it.
Vi nodded. Seeing where the night took them seemed best. In her professional life Vi was a planner, she had to be, but in personal life she moved wherever the universe took her.
"Anything to know? Hm well this place has a seedy reputation but it is fairly Romulan free. It does however attract those such as Ferengi, Orion and possible some other lovely species." she shrugged. "After my initiation in one of the local pubs in town I think I'm quite happy with where we are going." she smiled.
"What's the name of the place again?" Vi asked.
Stewart looked at Vi, impressed. She knew the security chief could handle herself, but was surprised she was so game to try something outside of the Starfleet norm. Evelyn knew she was still relatively young for an El-Aurian, and had assumed she might have been slightly sheltered from places. It only made Stewart smile more.
"Zek's I think. I'm not sure. It just matters we know where we are going. And that we get there. Now, let's go!" Stewart teased, leading them out the door to the transporter room.
Vi grinned. "You're only young once..." then she frowned. "Well I could be young all the time I guess but I'll only be 71 once." she giggled to herself. She could drink like anyone's business, and once drank a Klingon under the table. Few believe it due to her small stature but she can be a spitfire when she needs to be.
It wasn't long before they reached the transporter pad and stepped on. Within seconds and a lovely shimmering blue light they had moved a considerable distance closer to the pub they were to meet a few guys at. She'd yet to meet Ben, and knew relatively little of his cohorts. The night was just getting started.
Despite the night being young, both women could hear the loud music and shouting of patrons at the small bar at the top of the hill, seemingly glowing in the darkness from the warm lights.
As they approached, Stewart could see a tall man, standing outside with a drink in hand. "Ben!" She shouted to get his attention causing him to turn and smile as he walked down to greet them.
Ben and Evelyn exchanged polite kisses on the cheek as he smiled at her. "Took you long enough..." He teased before turning his attention to Vianola. "Hi, Benjamin Woods. A pleasure." He said warmly, his English accent as clear as the flush in his cheeks from the round he already hand. He moved his drink to free his hand to offer it to her.
The comment of taking long enough made Vi put a rather innocent face on. "Yeah, this one." she gestured at Evelyn. "Take all night trying on sandals if you let her." she joked.
She took the mans hand and noted the accent. "Vianola Paxidor, Vi is fine. I know it's a bit of a mouthful. What part of England are you from?" she asked as her Irish accent became a little broader.
Ben's smile just grew into a grin. "Ahh, an Irish lady! That's fantastic, I grew up in London, the West End." He explained of his own accent. "Now come along, there is no fun to be had out here." He led them up the hill and into the small, but crowded bar. "Hey! Let's get these ladies a proper drink now. Whiskeys, all around." He shouted over the din at the bartender, who nodded and began pouring.
It would seem nearly every non-Romulan civilian on the planet was there, Evelyn thought. "As long as it's not the synth stuff this time." She scolded Ben. "The reason that Bolian had the most stocked bar in the sector was half of it was synth." Stewart said unimpressed.
Ben just gave an embarrassed chuckle as he remember the humiliation of trying to impress her days ago, just to find out the Bolian was cheating his patrons. "It's not, I assure you." He said to mollify her. From the bar came half a dozen of Ben's friends. They ranged from human, to Bajoran to Trill. He gave one a firm handshake that turned into half an embrace. Woods introduced each of them to Vi and Evelyn.
Each of them was friendly enough, three of them handing Vi, Evelyn and Ben their own shots that they retrieved from the bar for them. "Vi, mind starting us off with a proper toast?", he prompted her.
Vi looked at all the friends present. All fairly good looking people by all accounts but she'd be lying if Ben himself hadn't caught her eye. The accent tickled her ear and she smiled as he responded to Evelyn.
She blushed a little as Ben asked for some words from her, putting her on the spot rather quickly.
"Well to quote a rather drunk friend of mine, Padraig..." Vi began as she raised her shot.
"If liquor were a pond and I were a duck,
I’d swim to the bottom and never come up…
but liquor is not a pond and I’m not a duck,
So tip your cup and let’s get f@#ked up."
With that toast she threw back her shot and slammed it down on the table upside down.
They all cheered and followed suit, downing their shots. Evelyn smiled at Vi as one of the girls in the group called for another round. Two more rounds of shots followed in quick succession before the Trill shouted “Alright, let’s party!”
Feeling the beginning of a decent buzz coming on, Evelyn leaned over to Vi. “Having a good time?”, she asked quietly as they followed Ben and the others. She was determined to make sure her friend was having fun.
Vi's cheeks were a little bit flushed. Her rather pale disposition didn't take much to change and the influx of alcohol often made her cheeks rosier.
"Oh yeah!" Vi shouted over some loud music and taking another shot. "We may need to slow down with the shots though. Little dizzy." she laughed as she spun her hand around. "Are you having fun?"
Evelyn smiled as she nodded in agreement about having a good time. She felt flushed, but more from the large of people than the actual alcohol. Stewart was used to drinking so much so quickly. She still didn’t want to push Vi. “Drink some water and get some air.” Evelyn told her, moving towards the bar to get Vianola some water before going back to join the group.
"Ah don't be daft." Vi said pulling Evelyn back. "Water is cheating and I breathe air all the time." she grinned and pulled her onto the dance floor. "This song... it's amazing! Dance with me!" she began to put on a little dance show. She didn't care who saw her, didn't care how she looked when she danced. Vi was in her own little world.
Evelyn laughed and nodded and joined her in dancing. It wasn’t long until both were encouraged to join others in dancing on the bar. Evelyn took little prompting to do so.
"This reminds me of a pub back in Ireland, Molly's. Dancin' on tables, the bar totally encouraged and the drunker you got the funnier it got." Vi laughed. "Conal fell right off the bar into a fussy Bolian... little boy blue was not happy!"
“He just needed to drink more!” Evelyn shouted over the crowd and music before taking another shot.
Ben watched both women dancing and grinned, folding his arms. “You ladies want to just stay up there or hang out with the rest of us in the back?” He shouted, gesturing with his head towards the back where the gambling tables were.
"If you'll help a couple of beautiful ladies down off the bar mister then we'll happily come with you into the seedy back room and throw our latinum away." Vi grinned as she gestured for Evelyn to be the first to go down.
There was a fire in Ben's eyes when he looked at her, almost like a spark.
He and Evelyn exchange playful smirks as he helped her down first, before turning to Vi. While he was busy with Vi, Stewart ordered herself and Vianola each a gin and tonic to help slow down their pace before they followed Ben. “What do you mean lose all our latinum?” She asked Vi playfully. “Don’t tell me you gamble to lose.”
Vianola accepted the drink and gave it a clink together with Evelyns as they moved into the back. "Not at all." Vi smiled. "Sometimes if you announce you are terrible at gambling people lower their expectations. Plus you look at me, a 5'6 blonde thin Human looking girl. No-one's going to think of me as a threat." she winked and nudged Evelyn as they moved along.
Evelyn laughed as she took a long sip of her drink and looked up at the taller woman as they moved to a poker table. “In that case, now that I know, you should sit next to me.” She teased.
The male Trill of the group, Raulk, began dealing out the cards as people took seats. Ben found a spot across from both ladies. “The game is five cars stud, jacks are wild and no limit. Five chip minimum…”
Evelyn took her cards and looked right at Vi and pointed. “And no empath powers.” She added before taking another long drink and anting up.
"Aw boo." Vi put on a sad face. "You're no fun." she laughed as she raised also. Her hand was good but she didn't let it show at all. Her 'poker face' was stone cold.
While people were making jokes and small talking, Evelyn finished her drink as she focused on her hand. Her hand was excellent, two pair of kings and eights, but she played conservatively. But she was a pro at drawing out the pot. She only called, letting people think her hand was decent.
The group was passing around snakes plant, though Stewart declined. She dabbled in the drug as a teen but decided it wasn’t for her. Instead she took Raulk and Emma up on their offer of Romulan moonshine. They poured her a healthy glass and after one drink she coughed profusely. “My god, what did you distil this in, a warp core?” She asked, still coughing. “I mean I’ll drink it but damn.” She half-heartedly complained as she took a mother large drink and felt the glow off the alcohol running through her body as she was sufficiently drunk now.
Vi too declined on the snakes planet. Nothing good would come of it, Security Chief on drugs whilst gambling in a dingy bar. She too accepted the moonshine and drank it a bit too quickly that it went to her head a little. "Definitely a dirty nacelle taste to it." Vi hiccupped.
Evelyn laughed and kept playing it safe until the pot was large and immediately became aggressive, raising significantly on each pass.
Ben looked at his hand and considered, watching Evelyn for any tells or signs of deception. He smirked and looked at Vi. “She’s your friend. Tell me, is she bullshitting me?”, he asked with a playful smirk, sipping his own moonshine, but taking it slow.
Vi screwed her eyes up at Ben and then feigned innocence. "Oh her? She's dangerous." she replied with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Be careful, or tread with caution. She'll eat you up." She grinned.
Evelyn just kept a straight face and stared Ben down as he considered the two of them. “You’re bluffing.” He eventually decided after a long moment and called, tossing his cards down. A pair of nines with a Jack high card.
Evelyn shrugged at Vi then showed her hand. “All those good looks but can’t see when you are walking into a trap. Such a shame.” She commented with a sigh, showing her two pair.
"Woo!" Vi screamed as a few looked at her. "Sorry..." she leaned into Evelyn. "I'm going to grab another drink at the bar." she announced before heading off.
Evelyn smiled and leaned right back into Vi. She nodded when Vianola said she was heading to the bar. Stewart just filled her meager cup with more of the moonshine. It tasted beyond horrible, but it got the job done.
The bar was crowed and Vi was struggling to catch the attention of the bartender. She huffed to herself and waited for him to become free.
The young Bajoran of the group, Tomar, was soon to follow Vi. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her all night. When he saw she struggled to get the bartender’s attention he stepped up. He used his superior height to wave him over. “What will you have?” He asked Vi with a shy grin.
Vi smiled, "Nice to see chivalry is not dead. Sometimes I'm just a wee bit too small for people to see." she giggled to her drunken self. "I'll let you choose, pick your poison and I'll match it. Tomar is it?" she asked.
He nodded. “Yes, that’s right. You and your friend are a lot of fun.” He said with a grin, his face more red from embarrassment. He turned his attention to the bartender. “Two glasses of springwine.” He said about the Bajoran drink.
"Well, I am Vianola if you didn't know." she smiled and playfully curtseyed. "I've only ever had springwine once or twice and that was a long time ago." she threw her mind back. "What brings a handsome Bajoran man to this planet?" she asked running her finger down the lining of his chest top.
Tomar struggled to put his thoughts into words and stammered as Vianola flirted. “I um…I’m uh..am uh..an anthropologist.” He finally got out. “I met Ben back on Bajor and we hit it off and have been traveling the last few years together, exploring the galaxy.” He said shyly, sipping his wine heavily.
Vi cocked her head as Tomar struggled with his words. It was cute. "Hit it off like..." she implied a relationship beyond friendship. She was testing the waters but it didn't matter to her what his sexuality was... she kind of got the impression right now that she was in his sights.
He was quick to figure out her meaning and quicker to add, “..as the best of friends. He was studying Bajoran literature at the local university and we met at a symposium about the occupation.” He explained, blushing more that Vi didn’t clearly understand him to be interested in her.
He awkwardly moved to bring his arm around her. “Why don’t we go sit outside with the bottle and chat for a bit?”, he offered taking his shot.
His embrace was warm, his arm around her felt safe and the feelings she felt from him were far from dangerous. "Sounds great." Vi replied as they began to walk out to the cooler, quieter air outside the bar.
"Strange place for an anthropologist to come though... are you seekin to find how the Romulans on this planet came to be here?" Vi asked. "Or how the different factions have all pooled together here?"
The Bajoran gave a soft but amused smile, humoring her. “I believe we all know how they got here.” He mused, “No, I’m interested in what the Romulans will do now that they lost their world, I want to see how they shape their culture as a response to such a catastrophe. We rarely get to see a culture and society in such a way, especially in real time.”
Vi nodded. It was true enough that this was technically an emerging culture given the various mixes of Romulans. That and the other species that had decided to call the planet home.
They made it outside and sat under the stars. The nights sky was beautiful and it always made Vi smile. Just the magic of it all, there was even a small meteor shower passing through the atmosphere.
Tomar sat there and talked with Vianola for hours, fascinated to hear about her life and species before finally suggesting they go back to his place.
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