Station #61: An Evening Of Bliss Pt. 1

Posted on Mon Nov 18th, 2024 @ 1:09am by Lieutenant JG Gavin Lasso {Honorary KDF} & Lieutenant JG T'Pri & Taavis {SF Capt. Ret.} {UFP Intel Agent}

Mission: FINAL JUDGEMENT
Location: various
Timeline: Current

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"There we are. The runabout USS Madison is ready for service as a tourist transport." Lasso said, chuckling and smiling as he stood next to T'Pri with his hands on his hips in a rather proud stance. His eyes ran over the lines of the runabout, always finding these small starships to be good looking craft. And, pretty tough for their size. He looked over at his companion. "Come on, T'Pri, not even an arched eyebrow to show some form of accomplishment?"

T'Pri, having been standing next to him, had been admiring the small starship. They had worked together to fine tune all the sensor arrays and get the ship's systems tightened up for better reaction times. With eyes still on the ship she responded. "It is a fine craft made better by our efforts." Her face turned his way, stoic as she had been when they first started this project a few hours ago. "Will that admission constitute excitement?" During their hours working together T'Pri had found Lasso to be a fine officer, friendly, instructive, and attentive. They had even shared a few tales of their pasts, with T'Pri becoming intrigued as he spoke of his El-Aurian side, and the long life span that had put him in this galaxy for 130 years. A few of his stories had been amusing and would have made her grin had she not relied on her Vulcan discipline.

Gavin gave a chuckle. "Sure. But, only because it's you." With work done for the day an idea came to mind. "Feel like getting a drink to celebrate?"

Still looking to her left at him, T'Pri turned to face him. "Mister Lasso, are you asking me on a date?" This time the eyebrow did arch as she was surprised he would ask such a thing after only knowing her for a day.

"What?" Lasso gave her a flabbergasted expression. "No! Not at all. That's not to say I wouldn't but I have a woman in my life. That's where we're going if you want to come. To her club. Club Bliss."

T'Pri saw his face contort as if insulted, before he explained himself and why he had asked. He even made sure that him saying no was to let her know that if he was not already spoken for then her being a Vulcan would not have deterred him from asking if he were single. An explanation said to make sure she did not feel slighted or insulted. Another reason to like this man for who he was. The Klingon sash Mister Lasso wore told her he had the ability to get along with other species, and with the medals on it, that he had even impressed them. "Very well, I will join you for libations. My apologies if my query insulted you."

Waving it off, Gavin responded. "No insult taken. I just wanted to make sure you weren't insulted. Anyway," his hand waved lazily again. "Enough of that. I'm going like this." Lasso used his hands to indicate his uniform. "If you need to go change I'll meet you there."

"No need," said T'Pri. "I am quite comfortable in my uniform, even when off duty."

"Sweet." Lasso said, grinning. "Let's go, then. I'll introduce you to my girl, Taavis."

Taavis. The name came to the front of her mind. T'Pri knew the name by way of Vulcan history, her service to the Vulcan Security Bureau, and from members of T'Pri's family. Taavis was seen as an honorable member of her culture, but there were those who honored her even if they believed she was reckless and undisciplined. Meeting her would be interesting. "Let us go, then."

The two of them got in next to each other and headed for the Promenade and Shadow Way.

***

Arriving at Club Bliss, the main entrance on the Promenade and Shadow Way, the two officers entered. There was music playing, Earth music used as house music, with Horse With No Name playing in the background as the early evening crowd was starting to come in. Leading T'Pri through the small blood clot of bodies near to the entrance, Lasso got to the bar and made sure there was room enough for T'Pri to get in beside him, which was not too difficult this early. "Manny, good to see you. This is T'Pri, a new officer to 69, and I'm showing her around. T'Pri, this is Manny."

Manny gave a pleasant nod as he wiped out glass mugs. "A pleasure, T'Pri. Welcome to CLub Bliss. Any friend of Gavin is a friend of ours."

"Thank you, Manny." Said T'Pri. "Do you have kali-fal?"

Manny cocked his head and gave her a momentary look before his eyes went to Lasso with mirth in them. "You didn't tell her?"

"We just got here, Manny, cut us a break." Gavin smiled. "I'll take a pint of black and a shot of Jameson's." Manny went to fetch the drink orders.

"What have I not been told," asked T'Pri showing her curiosity.

"Taavis, the owner, is my lover, but also owns Club Bliss." Lasso explained. "I don't know how much you know about her but she is half Romulan. The kali-fal here is some of the finest."

T'Pri had never read enough about Taavis, nor heard enough about her personal life to know about the Romulan half to her bloodline. Curious. In her mind it explained a lot when others thought of her as undisciplined. The followers of Jarok held Taavis in high esteem, as she too was a follower. "Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combination (IDIC)." T'Pri said to Gavin. "Meeting her may be enlightening."

Manny returned and set their drinks before them as Lasso spoke, with Gavin taking a sip of his Guinness. When she said that he gave another chuckle. "That's one word for it." That's when Gavin's eye caught his woman coming from out of the back areas, wearing her all black felt-like catsuit, no weapons. Their eyes met and he saw Taavis smile and begin to come around to the outside of the bar. His eyes went passed T'Pri, Taavis coming up from behind her. "Here she comes now."

T'Pri had taken a sip of her kali-fal and then spun around to face the owner of Bliss. She raised her hand up in a Vulcan salute as she saw the woman in black approaching.

Taavis, not expecting a Vulcan in Science blue to be here, let alone raise her hand in the Vulcan salute, stopped a moment and stood Vulcan straight, rasing her own hand to return the gesture.

"It is agreeable to meet you, Taavis." Said T'Pri.

Taavis took that in stride and then stepped forward, giving the woman a high five with her salute, saying "you, too" as she passed by and went to Lasso, planting a kiss on his lips before spinning around to face this newest Vulcan face. "No disrespect intended. The traditional salute doesn't get used often by me, anymore. I prefer the handshake these days. So, let's start over. Hello, I'm Taavis. A pleasure to meet you...?" She left it hanging for the woman to fill in her name as she then extended the hand to be shook in greeting.

T'Pri, being a diplomatic officer, was not offended in the slightest by any of it. It was obvious that Taavis no longer lived by the stringent demands of Vulcan discipline in her every day life. So, with that in mind she grasped the hand and shook it in greeting. "I am T'Pri. It is agreeable to meet another Tu'Jarok."

Giving a grin, Taavis released the hand. "We are far fewer than our brethren, but our beliefs have merit. We don't disagree with them, we just live differently."

T'Pri could not disagree with that summation. "I would not disagree."

"You've obviously crossed other lines in your life, T'Pri." Taavis said this as she chinned toward the tumbler of kali-fal. "If you like I can spare a few bottles for private use, in your quarters."

"That would be gracious of you, Taavis. I accept." T'Pri replied.

Taavis then looked to Lasso, her eyes going back and forth as they all talked. "How did you two meet?"

"We work together," offered Gavin. "Captain Green's orders. Sureth has some science types coming to M-69 to observe the black hole nearby. So, T'Pri and I tightened some rivets on a runabout we'll use to take them out, if they wish. Green wanted me to ask you, babe. Would you consider using Harbinger to take them out?"

T'Pri watched their interaction, finding it both curious and fascinating at how they fit so easily together despite their species differences. Without her eyebrows and ears to tell, T'Pri would never guess that Taavis was Vulcan simply due to her casual, easy-going persona. She did, however, note that the eyes of Taavis would dance around the room with quick glances even while having a conversation, watching everything with experienced eyes, yet looking like she was not even paying attention.

"I'll think about it," said Taavis. "She'll have to clear that with upstairs first so I'll have time to consider." Her face showing an afterthought, Taavis looked over at her Vulcan patron, eyes going up and down her body a moment. "Is that all you have to wear? I have some catsuits in the back, clean, and ready to wear. Be yourself, not that Starfleet person you're dressed up as."

T'Pri gave a scrunched appearance a moment, trying to consider if what was said was an insult, or a point of view. She decided to choose the latter. "I am fine, thank you, Taavis. Perhaps another time."

"Fair enough," said Taavis. "Anyway, lover, I have a performance coming up. Be back after." Another kiss and off she went to the back.

T'Pri moved in closer to Lasso for ease of conversation since the club was now full. "Performance?" She asked.

"Oh yeah," said Lasso with a smile. "Taavis loves to sing and play music. Earth style music, not some frumpy noise that puts people to sleep. I can belt out my own songs when in the mood and might even do so if the mood strikes."

T'Pri considered what was said, having found some of Earth's music to be most interesting. She had even performed during karaoke at the clubs in San Francisco during her Academy years, liking to sing some of the songs from various female artists from Earth. She even allowed her emotions to show during those times, to better flow with the rhythm of the music. "Perhaps I will do so, as well. Earth music is rather...enticing."

Gavin laughed. "It can be, yeah. I would love to see what you got. Maybe we'll get lucky and the mood will strike you, too."

"Perhaps," T'Pri responded, actually wanting to give a slight grin at his energy.

TBC

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