Chinese Whispers

Posted on Fri Aug 23rd, 2019 @ 12:25am by Captain Abigail Laurens & Commander Ichiko Gail & Lieutenant Commander William Rogers & Lieutenant Jack Carver & Lieutenant Aleksander Voroshilov & 1st Lieutenant S´tal & Master Chief Petty Officer Hans-Peter König & K'Lok Maarg

Mission: War and Peacekeeping
Location: The Raging Deity Lounge

Time: Late Afternoon/Evening

Abigail walked into the lounge, noting the table full of crew in the center of the room, she grabbed herself a glass of spring wine from the bar, surprised to see Ashe not in the area, before walking across to the table, sliding into a seat next to Jack. She looked at the collection of crew and offered a smile. "I don't know about all of you, but I've been waiting for this drink since I got up this morning. Here's hoping tomorrow is a little less fraught with adventure," she said with a chagrined smile.

S'tal cocked his eyebrow, though it was not unheard of for a Marine CO to desire a strong start to a morning. "I have found such a concoction rather... enlightening at the end of a training session. It helps relieve key stress from troops who have trained in difficult conditions."

"Mornin', Cap'n." Jack raised his tall mug of OJ. He looked tired, but put on a smile for Abigail.

Bill laughed. "Thanks for jinxing it, cap."

Abigail laughed and shook her head. "Well, that's easy, I can just knock on wood," she replied cheekily, leaning across and tapping her fingertips lightly on Bill's forehead.

In Ashe's absence, Kaarg manned the bar. As was usual when he was 'in charge', his Bat'leth hung on a stand behind the bar; a dissuader to troublesome types. He poured drinks expertly and quickly to the crew ordering. He'd just finished making a rather strange-looking multi-coloured iced cocktail that sparkled in the light. "Nayan Cat Surprise," he said. "Andf, for the record, I've been tending bars almost as long as you've been upright. Enjoy your drink!" In truth, Kaarg loved it when he was challenged in either the bar or the kitchen, to create something unusual. He was a man who took pride in his work, be that cooking, bar tending or eviscerating people.

Aleksi entered the bar, not at all surprised to see the Klingon behind the bar. After his excursion to the land of rain forests and cocaine and his talk with Koenig, he needed another drink, something stiff and with the off chance of hallucinations, "Sazerac, heavy on the absinthe. Please."

Kaarg raised an eyebrow but mixed the drink and handed it to Aleksi without so much as a word.

Hearing such a unique and challenging order, S'tal held up his now-empty glass for the Klingon bartender to refill with the same. "An intriguing choice, given your recent experience."

Kaarg filled the glass, nodding to the Vulcan.

Aleksi looked over at the Vulcan, a grin on his face, "I haven't the foggiest idea of what you're talking about."

The Vulcan simply tipped his drink at that, "Indeed. Might I suggest, in future cases of, 'unremarkable times', that our Marine contingent would be useful."

Aleksi raised his brow as he sipped the drink, the scent of the bourbon intertwined with anise. He motioned the Vulcan to a side table, his voice quiet, "You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention. What are you talking about?"

S'tal joined in the long sip "That would depend on the scenario. I ensure the platoon are at maximum readiness in any environment or lack thereof. They may be, as you would say, 'grunts at the core', but they are skilled in multiple specialities."

Aleksi laughed, swirling the glass, "If you're talking about securing a ship I can assure you I have no desire to do that. If you're talking about keeping the delegates from killing each other, I'm afraid you're a little late to the party. But I can think of about a dozen other uses for your marines."

"Play nice children or I'll put you in the naughty corner," Abigail chastised with a laugh. "Besides, no one is killing anyone on my ship. Mr Miranda was taken to Sickbay this morning after his nasty fall, Lieutenant Morgan seems quite sure that he will recover from his injuries just fine."

"I already have a permanent address there," Aleksi slapped S'tal's shoulder as he led the man to the table already populated by the senior staff. Taking a seat next to Jack he smirked, "And what sort of ghost stories are we telling around here?"

"I think ghost stories would be preferable," Abigail said with a shake of her head as she glanced between Aleksi and S'tal.

Jack gave a nod at Aleksi, remaining otherwise silent, just enjoying his tall OJ.

Kaarg watched and listened to everything. As bar staff and a civilian at that (honest), he was largely overlooked when it came to people talking. He watched the room as he traversed it, drinks on a tray for various occupants. He was now looking for signs that someone had started taking too much interest in the tidbit of information just casually dropped.

Abigail remained silent for a moment, just glancing around the table. "How's everyone holding up?" she finally asked gently.

"I'm good. Got my tooth put back in, bruise fixed." Jack offered a grin.

"If anything, I'd say you look better than before the fight." Bill observed with an amused grin. "You ought to get punched in the face more often."

S'tal set his glass down, "If it would be preferred, I could arrange a sparring session with myself or Start Sargeant Kalwari, to ensure a clean break of the bone."

"Good idea. Maybe that'll teach you to keep your hands up," König had slipped in behind the conversation, leaning on his cane. He had been hoping for the bar tender: she had thus far had a decent track record of selecting drinkable beer. Seeing the Klingon tending the bar instead, he briefly calculated how much he wanted to risk Kaarg's tastes. Deciding that, perhaps, today we would be adventurous he leveled his gaze at Kaarg and ordered, "Beer," his eyes daring the Klingon to impress the German.

Kaarg nodded, "Let's see what I can do." He disappeared out back beforre returning with a bottle which he removed the lid from with a practiced ease. Pouring the dark amber liquid into a tall, rounded glass, held at 45 degrees so that a decent head would form (without it taking overt the glass). "Try that," he sasid just as flatly as the other had ordered.

König swirled and sniffed at the glass, then drew a sip. He swished the liquid. Malty, full-bodied. He swallowed and savored the bitter aftertaste. The Klingon had chosen well and König approved. "Good enough," he grunted then moved to find a seat at the edge of the gathered officers.

Abigail looked up at Kaarg and smiled warmly. "On your next trip, can I have one of those brightly coloured concoctions I saw before? They look good," she asked before turing back to the group around the table.

Kaarg nodded, "of course." He moved back to the bar, mixed the bright, multi-coloured cocktail and brought it over to the Casptain. "Enjoy," he said.

Bill caught the bartender/chef on his way back to the bar. "Don't suppose you've heard of a cocktail called an 'Adonis' have you?"

Kaarg thought for a moment, "It depends on which version you're looking for. There's about 6 recipies I can use, and those are the ones I know about."

"Six versions?" Bill gave a low whistle. "Uh, okay, I'll go with the original 1884 version."

The klingon bar tender nodded, "Original Earth it is," he said. He moved behind the bar, serrupticiously checking the recipe to make sure he got it right, eventually returning to Bill with his drink. "There," he said, before turning away to serve someone else.

"Thanks." Bill took the glass. "Guess it got far more popular after I left." He muttered to himself.

At that, the doors to the lounge opened, and Ichiko herself walked in with a pace of urgency. She gave a quick look around before her hollow glance fell upon the Captain.

"Ma'am, update from Medical. They say Mr Miranda will be waking up in about an hour or so, if you want to be there for questioning."

Glancing up at Ichiko, Abigail nodded quickly. "Of course Commander, let's go down now. We can speak to medical about his condition before they wake him." Finishing her glass of wine, she put the empty glass on the table and stood up. "After you Commander."