Beg, Steal or Borrow – Making New Friends - Part 2
by Commander Chelsea Dunham
Post Details
ON:
OLD: By noon, she had signed out to lunch and made her way to the Promenade decks. Making a beeline for the new cafe, Mercy found herself there apparently in advance of the AC Ops. She found a table and sat down, trying not to wonder if he would come.
NEW:
The rest of John's morning was mostly uneventful; the atmospheric controls in several offices needed fine-tuning, a replicator on deck 89 was only producing a black sludge that looked curiously like chocolate pudding, and got a lecture from an alien about how poorly the station had been maintained. He was thankful when he noticed that his PADD alerted him to it being close to 1200.
The turbolift took him to what he hoped was the correct deck for this Bajoran Cafe that Chief Denoublier told him about.
“Deck 143. Promenade Level 3,” the soft voice of the turbolift announced, the doors opening.
“At least I know I am at roughly the right area,” Elliott muttered to himself, stepping out into the busy plaza. Luckily he had programmed his PADD to list all of the newest establishments including one particular café that was Bajoran-owned. He certainly hoped it was the correct place as this market was indeed massive.
John walked down the various corridors in order to reach the Café, already encountering several aliens that he really didn’t knew existed. He smirked realizing that being on a space station really was a good place to meet different kinds of peoples from across the quadrant. Finally he made it to the desired establishment at roughly the right time. Walking slowly through the doors he scanned the room, looking for the Chief he spoke with earlier.
Mercy was looking at the menu but as she looked up she saw John and waved, beckoning him over.
"Hey!" she said indicating the chair opposite her at the two person table. "It's crowded in here today, obviously very popular. Glad you could find it. My directions are never all that clear. Bryan's always going on at me to be more concise but I chatter too much."
Realising she was doing exactly that, Mercy stopped and smiled apologetically, waiting for John to get a word in edgeways.
"Hi there," he smiled. "The directions were fine. I'm new to this station and theres 1200 decks to keep track of. Not an easy task." He sat across from the Chief. "Luckily the Promenade is only 4 decks large, much easier to find my way. So yes, I notice there seems to be a lot of issues lately. And I heard something about an attack. What happened here?"
"Oh, it was horrible." Mercy shuddered. "We were on Battlestations alert and there was a crush on the promenade decks. We were off duty so we didn't have our uniforms on and so no comms badges! Bryan tried to save a child when the first hit landed. He went down and the crowd panicked, he was trampled."
She looked as if she might cry, relating the details.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." John quickly said, alarmed. He didn't mean to upset her. "I'm sorry, we can talk about something else."
"Oh, I'm really sorry" Mercy recovered. "I didn't mean to get upset, I promised myself i was over that" She looked a little sheepish.
"They tell me the station was attacked by Romulans. I don't know much about it personally, only that the station took several hits and there were lots of people hurt. I think it's unlikely to happen again though. Someone in sickbay said there's been an apology from Romulus, but that's just rumour" she continued, back to her normal self now.
"Hm, Romulans?" Elliott muttered. He had plenty of training and education about Romulans, but he couldn't understand why they would attack this station. "Is there something going on?" he asked. "Usually Romulans don't attack unless severely provoked. Maybe renegades or something?"
Mercy didn't know much about Romulans herself. "um... perhaps?" she answered, a bit unsure. Fortunately at that moment she was rescued from trying to appear to know more than she did by the arrival of her colleague and good friend.
"Jenna!" she exclaimed and stood up to hug the lovely blonde who had just arrived.
"Hey Sweetie!" came the warm reply. "Where's your Siamese twin?"
Mercy blushed. "Don't tease me about Bryan today, he's hurt" she pouted.
Turning to John, Mercy introduced him. "This is my good friend Jenna Minton. She's a CPO in our department. Jen this is Ensign John Elliott, he's Ast. Chief of Ops and soon, when he's not new any more, he'll be too important to talk to the likes of us" she joked, grinning at John.
Elliott stood up and extended his hand. "Hi there, I'm ah...John. Elliott. Yeah." he chuckled nervously, not sure what to say to what had already been said.
Jenna held out a graceful hand with long slim fingers to shake John's hand warmly and her cornflower blue eyes met his with a sparkle set in a radiant smile that lit up her sunny countenance. The only clue to the fact that she was half vulcan was her shaped ears which swept up into a point, but they were hidden under the bounce of dark curls which framed her face and fell across her shoulders in waves.
"Welcome to DS5, Ensign. Take no notice of Mercy, she's too loved up to know what she's on about. It's alright for some. I never seem to have any luck in the love stakes, so I've given up dating for EVER!" She might have been convincing if it weren't for Mercy's chuckling.
"Oh pleeeeeeeeeeeze!" Denoublier snickered. "You're the eternal romantic, Jen! You'll be back in love with someone before I have time to eat my lunch." she teased.
Jenna pulled up a chair and sat down looking hurt. "She makes me sound like a horrible flirt, doesn't she John?" she pouted. "How shall we punish her?" she turned her beautiful eyes on John again and waited, seeming to be hoping for him to join in with the joke.
"Heh, punish you say?" John replied, tasking the words somewhat. He wasn't much of a trixter or anything like that, but he didn't want to be rude or a buzzkill. "Well, I suppose we could just prove her wrong and you and I can be in love after her sandwich." He grinned, thinking himself quite clever.
Jenna's eyes met his, a very deep blue, unusual with such dark hair and skin colour. A smirk was flickering around the edge of her lips. "I think that'd prove her right!" she shrugged. "But it'd be more fun that way around!" she agreed.
John's heart began to race slightly, though he wasn't exactly sure why. He had meant to make a joke, but she seemed quite....well, he didn't know the word. He managed to keep up a smile, though he was sure a slight glow in his face was showing.
"Well," he said, after clearing his throat. "So, are the drinks good here? I'm quite parched." he hoped his subject change wouldn't be too noticed.
Of course it *was* noticed and only served to make Mercy's grin spread wider. Jenna was more subtle though and answered without showing amusement. She was still on the rebound from her previous relationship however there was something about John that she couldn't explain and she was fascinated.
"Oh yes, you name it and they seem to have a 'secret' supply of whatever it is." she replied. "I don't drink cocktails at lunch time though, or I'd never get any work done in the afternoons, but if you want to come back and try some exotic combinations from far-flung civilisations, we could meet up here tonight? If you're free?"
It was a very forward suggestion and not at all the right way to behave with someone you only met 15 minutes ago, but 'proving Mercy unintentionally right with her joke' was an incentive to Jenna. She was thinking to herself: ~Besides, what do we have to lose? At worst we could end up making a new friend and drinking buddy each.~
Mercy's open mouth said it all. She had been joking of course but the speed with which Jenna had turned this into more was quite a surprise to the shy Denoublier who had waited patiently for what seemed like a lifetime for her Bryan to even notice her. The two friends were almost complete opposites. If they hadn't worked together, Jen's type might never have noticed Mercy's, let alone for the two to become such good friends.
John was slightly taken aback at Jenna's suggestion, but something about her made him nod slowly. "Yes, that does sound like fun. I haven't had a good night out since the Academy," he laughed and leaned towards Jenna. "This does seem like a lot of fun. Want to meet here or I could always swing by your quarters. Provided I don't get lost for the millionth time, haha." His face was burning, but he didn't care. He could see Mercy's expression which made him wonder if he should calm himself. He never was too good at reading women.
Jenna copied John and leaned towards him too. She murmoured conspiratorially, almost too softly for Mercy to hear, but not quite. "I think we should start here, see how we get on and if you're real good I might let you escort me to my quarters later."
John's eyes opened wide, nearly bugging out of his head. If he wasn't warm in the face before, how he most certainly was. He tried to compose himself quickly and grinned back at the other woman. He nodded slowly.
Looking across at the unusually silent Mercy who was pink cheeked and didn't know where to look, Jenna raised her voice back to normal pitch again and smiled at her friend. "So, you and Bryan are coming out tonight too, right?"
Mercy drew in a laboured breath and frowned as she thought of Bryan's injuries again. "That's not possible, poor Bryan couldn't possibly, I told you he's been very badly hurt and it will be weeks before he's recovered fully, even with daily regeneration sessions. He'll know that Doctor Adams better than he knows me, soon."
Jenna shrugged. "Sorry to hear that. I hope he gets better soon. It won't be as much fun without you guys." she sympathised. Mercy accepted the apparent regret and as their food arrived at that moment she was distracted from any further comment.
With their lunch in front of them, the three of them began to eat and the conversation was less for a while. Jen asked what Bryan had done and heard all about his injuries and the whole story in great detail. After about 45 minutes of chatter, Mercy ran out of lunch hour and had to leave.
"It was lovely having lunch all together. We must do it again. What about tomorrow?" Mercy said.
Jen laughed. "Why not?" she agreed. "Same time?" Mercy hugged them both and left.
"I've finished my shift, I'm off now until 6am tomorrow." Jenna told John as the waiter cleared their plates and offered them coffee or other drinks.
"Do you have time?" Jen asked John.
"Well, there was a few things I was going to look at on deck 453, but I think that could wait." John smiled at his now-lone companion. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well, i was just thinking coffee or something, but if you have time I could show you some of the most essential places for a few minutes before we both go back to work?" she offered, thinking spontaneously.
John nodded, feeling a lot more comfortable now. "Yes, that sounds like a lot of fun. I'm ready when you are."
OFF:
tbc.....
A JP by:
Ensign John Elliott
ACOO DS5
Mercedes Denoublier
CWO2 - Administrative Assistant
NPC'd by Chelsea
and
Jenna Minton
CPO - Administrative Assistant
NPC'd by Chelsea
by Commander Chelsea Dunham
Post Details
| Title | Making New Friends - Part 2 | |
| Mission | Beg, Steal or Borrow | |
| Author(s) | Commander Chelsea Dunham | |
| Posted | Wed Jul 15, 2009 @ 8:45pm | |
| Location | The Promenade | |
| Timeline | Noon - SD9 |
OLD: By noon, she had signed out to lunch and made her way to the Promenade decks. Making a beeline for the new cafe, Mercy found herself there apparently in advance of the AC Ops. She found a table and sat down, trying not to wonder if he would come.
NEW:
The rest of John's morning was mostly uneventful; the atmospheric controls in several offices needed fine-tuning, a replicator on deck 89 was only producing a black sludge that looked curiously like chocolate pudding, and got a lecture from an alien about how poorly the station had been maintained. He was thankful when he noticed that his PADD alerted him to it being close to 1200.
The turbolift took him to what he hoped was the correct deck for this Bajoran Cafe that Chief Denoublier told him about.
“Deck 143. Promenade Level 3,” the soft voice of the turbolift announced, the doors opening.
“At least I know I am at roughly the right area,” Elliott muttered to himself, stepping out into the busy plaza. Luckily he had programmed his PADD to list all of the newest establishments including one particular café that was Bajoran-owned. He certainly hoped it was the correct place as this market was indeed massive.
John walked down the various corridors in order to reach the Café, already encountering several aliens that he really didn’t knew existed. He smirked realizing that being on a space station really was a good place to meet different kinds of peoples from across the quadrant. Finally he made it to the desired establishment at roughly the right time. Walking slowly through the doors he scanned the room, looking for the Chief he spoke with earlier.
Mercy was looking at the menu but as she looked up she saw John and waved, beckoning him over.
"Hey!" she said indicating the chair opposite her at the two person table. "It's crowded in here today, obviously very popular. Glad you could find it. My directions are never all that clear. Bryan's always going on at me to be more concise but I chatter too much."
Realising she was doing exactly that, Mercy stopped and smiled apologetically, waiting for John to get a word in edgeways.
"Hi there," he smiled. "The directions were fine. I'm new to this station and theres 1200 decks to keep track of. Not an easy task." He sat across from the Chief. "Luckily the Promenade is only 4 decks large, much easier to find my way. So yes, I notice there seems to be a lot of issues lately. And I heard something about an attack. What happened here?"
"Oh, it was horrible." Mercy shuddered. "We were on Battlestations alert and there was a crush on the promenade decks. We were off duty so we didn't have our uniforms on and so no comms badges! Bryan tried to save a child when the first hit landed. He went down and the crowd panicked, he was trampled."
She looked as if she might cry, relating the details.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." John quickly said, alarmed. He didn't mean to upset her. "I'm sorry, we can talk about something else."
"Oh, I'm really sorry" Mercy recovered. "I didn't mean to get upset, I promised myself i was over that" She looked a little sheepish.
"They tell me the station was attacked by Romulans. I don't know much about it personally, only that the station took several hits and there were lots of people hurt. I think it's unlikely to happen again though. Someone in sickbay said there's been an apology from Romulus, but that's just rumour" she continued, back to her normal self now.
"Hm, Romulans?" Elliott muttered. He had plenty of training and education about Romulans, but he couldn't understand why they would attack this station. "Is there something going on?" he asked. "Usually Romulans don't attack unless severely provoked. Maybe renegades or something?"
Mercy didn't know much about Romulans herself. "um... perhaps?" she answered, a bit unsure. Fortunately at that moment she was rescued from trying to appear to know more than she did by the arrival of her colleague and good friend.
"Jenna!" she exclaimed and stood up to hug the lovely blonde who had just arrived.
"Hey Sweetie!" came the warm reply. "Where's your Siamese twin?"
Mercy blushed. "Don't tease me about Bryan today, he's hurt" she pouted.
Turning to John, Mercy introduced him. "This is my good friend Jenna Minton. She's a CPO in our department. Jen this is Ensign John Elliott, he's Ast. Chief of Ops and soon, when he's not new any more, he'll be too important to talk to the likes of us" she joked, grinning at John.
Elliott stood up and extended his hand. "Hi there, I'm ah...John. Elliott. Yeah." he chuckled nervously, not sure what to say to what had already been said.
Jenna held out a graceful hand with long slim fingers to shake John's hand warmly and her cornflower blue eyes met his with a sparkle set in a radiant smile that lit up her sunny countenance. The only clue to the fact that she was half vulcan was her shaped ears which swept up into a point, but they were hidden under the bounce of dark curls which framed her face and fell across her shoulders in waves.
"Welcome to DS5, Ensign. Take no notice of Mercy, she's too loved up to know what she's on about. It's alright for some. I never seem to have any luck in the love stakes, so I've given up dating for EVER!" She might have been convincing if it weren't for Mercy's chuckling.
"Oh pleeeeeeeeeeeze!" Denoublier snickered. "You're the eternal romantic, Jen! You'll be back in love with someone before I have time to eat my lunch." she teased.
Jenna pulled up a chair and sat down looking hurt. "She makes me sound like a horrible flirt, doesn't she John?" she pouted. "How shall we punish her?" she turned her beautiful eyes on John again and waited, seeming to be hoping for him to join in with the joke.
"Heh, punish you say?" John replied, tasking the words somewhat. He wasn't much of a trixter or anything like that, but he didn't want to be rude or a buzzkill. "Well, I suppose we could just prove her wrong and you and I can be in love after her sandwich." He grinned, thinking himself quite clever.
Jenna's eyes met his, a very deep blue, unusual with such dark hair and skin colour. A smirk was flickering around the edge of her lips. "I think that'd prove her right!" she shrugged. "But it'd be more fun that way around!" she agreed.
John's heart began to race slightly, though he wasn't exactly sure why. He had meant to make a joke, but she seemed quite....well, he didn't know the word. He managed to keep up a smile, though he was sure a slight glow in his face was showing.
"Well," he said, after clearing his throat. "So, are the drinks good here? I'm quite parched." he hoped his subject change wouldn't be too noticed.
Of course it *was* noticed and only served to make Mercy's grin spread wider. Jenna was more subtle though and answered without showing amusement. She was still on the rebound from her previous relationship however there was something about John that she couldn't explain and she was fascinated.
"Oh yes, you name it and they seem to have a 'secret' supply of whatever it is." she replied. "I don't drink cocktails at lunch time though, or I'd never get any work done in the afternoons, but if you want to come back and try some exotic combinations from far-flung civilisations, we could meet up here tonight? If you're free?"
It was a very forward suggestion and not at all the right way to behave with someone you only met 15 minutes ago, but 'proving Mercy unintentionally right with her joke' was an incentive to Jenna. She was thinking to herself: ~Besides, what do we have to lose? At worst we could end up making a new friend and drinking buddy each.~
Mercy's open mouth said it all. She had been joking of course but the speed with which Jenna had turned this into more was quite a surprise to the shy Denoublier who had waited patiently for what seemed like a lifetime for her Bryan to even notice her. The two friends were almost complete opposites. If they hadn't worked together, Jen's type might never have noticed Mercy's, let alone for the two to become such good friends.
John was slightly taken aback at Jenna's suggestion, but something about her made him nod slowly. "Yes, that does sound like fun. I haven't had a good night out since the Academy," he laughed and leaned towards Jenna. "This does seem like a lot of fun. Want to meet here or I could always swing by your quarters. Provided I don't get lost for the millionth time, haha." His face was burning, but he didn't care. He could see Mercy's expression which made him wonder if he should calm himself. He never was too good at reading women.
Jenna copied John and leaned towards him too. She murmoured conspiratorially, almost too softly for Mercy to hear, but not quite. "I think we should start here, see how we get on and if you're real good I might let you escort me to my quarters later."
John's eyes opened wide, nearly bugging out of his head. If he wasn't warm in the face before, how he most certainly was. He tried to compose himself quickly and grinned back at the other woman. He nodded slowly.
Looking across at the unusually silent Mercy who was pink cheeked and didn't know where to look, Jenna raised her voice back to normal pitch again and smiled at her friend. "So, you and Bryan are coming out tonight too, right?"
Mercy drew in a laboured breath and frowned as she thought of Bryan's injuries again. "That's not possible, poor Bryan couldn't possibly, I told you he's been very badly hurt and it will be weeks before he's recovered fully, even with daily regeneration sessions. He'll know that Doctor Adams better than he knows me, soon."
Jenna shrugged. "Sorry to hear that. I hope he gets better soon. It won't be as much fun without you guys." she sympathised. Mercy accepted the apparent regret and as their food arrived at that moment she was distracted from any further comment.
With their lunch in front of them, the three of them began to eat and the conversation was less for a while. Jen asked what Bryan had done and heard all about his injuries and the whole story in great detail. After about 45 minutes of chatter, Mercy ran out of lunch hour and had to leave.
"It was lovely having lunch all together. We must do it again. What about tomorrow?" Mercy said.
Jen laughed. "Why not?" she agreed. "Same time?" Mercy hugged them both and left.
"I've finished my shift, I'm off now until 6am tomorrow." Jenna told John as the waiter cleared their plates and offered them coffee or other drinks.
"Do you have time?" Jen asked John.
"Well, there was a few things I was going to look at on deck 453, but I think that could wait." John smiled at his now-lone companion. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well, i was just thinking coffee or something, but if you have time I could show you some of the most essential places for a few minutes before we both go back to work?" she offered, thinking spontaneously.
John nodded, feeling a lot more comfortable now. "Yes, that sounds like a lot of fun. I'm ready when you are."
OFF:
tbc.....
A JP by:
Ensign John Elliott
ACOO DS5
Mercedes Denoublier
CWO2 - Administrative Assistant
NPC'd by Chelsea
and
Jenna Minton
CPO - Administrative Assistant
NPC'd by Chelsea