Having a drink

Posted on Thu Jul 5th, 2018 @ 2:58pm by Ensign Krystel Villanova PhD

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Wellington's Lounge
Timeline: Backpost to before "We've got company"

Finally having some time for himself, all his paperwork done, his team settled in, Jack found himself heading to the ship's lounge. Once there he ordered himself a Hot 'n Sweet, an old Earth vodka drink with crushed pepper candy mixed in, very sweet and with a hot after taste. The murky black drink in hand, he made his way to a table near one of the viewports, there to sit down and lean back, relaxing, people-watching.

Krystel entered the lounge wearing a simple red sundress. She ordered something and then leaned against the bar as she waited. She was bored and was looking for someone to entertain her. Once she got her drink, she moved toward the viewports to look out into the void of the universe.

Jack looked up at the sound of someone walking by, then smiled, seeing a beautiful Orion woman wearing a dress that complemented her. "Well hello there." he sat up a bit more straight, kicking a seat out for her as he did. "Don't believe I've quite had the pleasure yet."

"Oh, hi there handsome." Krystel said quickly looking the man over as she took the open invite to sit with him. "No you haven't." She said with a sexy smirk. "I'm Krystel Villanova, and you are?"

"Jack Carver, CAG." he half-stood and offered a hand, firm and strong, smile to match her smirk. "Just got onboard, myself. Still trying to figure what's happening outside my department."

"I'm the ship's biologist." She said taking his hand. "I, also, just came aboard. So how are you enjoying your position?" Krystel asked.

His smile turned into a broad grin. "You're asking a career pilot how he enjoys being a career pilot. There's nothing else like it, the sensation of freedom, of speed, of power yet also vulnerability. I get to see the wonders of space with nothing but a sheet of transparent plasteel between me and aforementioned wonders. There's nothing like it."

"I bet." Krystel said with a chuckle. "I was referring to being a department head, Mr Carver?"

"Call me Jack." he raised his glass of murky black drink, then took a sip. "Eh, it's ok I guess. To be frank, I became a pilot because of that sense of freedom. Becoming a CAG, test pilot and eventually leader of a group of test pilots and flight coordinator for a field test of a new fighter is - well, it's one of those things you don't plan for, but what happens anyways. Like a wise man once said, life is what happens while you're making other plans."

Krystel tilted her head as she listened to Jack talk. "That is so true. You plan, and the universe laughs." She said with another cute chuckle. "So you are really skilled with that joystick huh?"

"I like to think so." he smirked, twirling his glass of drink. "Must've made some people happy or they wouldn't have put me where I am."

Krystel took a sip of her own drink watching the man over the rim of her glass. She lowered her glass and twirled the liquid within it, with a 'you know what I mean' look on her face. "That's good. I had only completed my Officer Candidate Schooling before this posting." She broke into a huge grin. "I'm so happy to be here. So happy to be here." She fired off very quickly.

"First postings are always the most exciting." He agreed. "Me, I've been on a few ships." His expression fell slightly as if remembering something. It took another sip of his drink before his smile returned. "Cherish the memories you make here. You only ever have one first posting."

"You got me wrong. This isn't my first posting, this is my third." She said at high speed. "This is my first posting as an Officer. I was enlisted on the Kitty Hawk and the Yankee Clipper." She tilted her head slightly as she thought for a moment. "Besides I cherish all my memories, except the boring ones. You see that I have an Eidetic Memory, so I remember everything, well almost everything. Oh, I hate being bored, and I really mean I hate being bored, because I get mischievous." She grinned at the man. "Do you care to get mischievous with me?"

"Third posting, my apologies." At her final comment though he turned a bit more hesitant. "What exactly did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Nothing illegal, if that is what you are asking." Krystel said before taking a sip of her drink. She did catch his hesitation. "I look for things or people to attempt to entertain me." She gave a seductive smirk at the man. "That is either running around the holodeck in a medieval era program or horseback riding." She looked down into her drink. "Sometimes I look for a companion for the evening. I have many interests and need many outlets to keep me entertained and to ward off boredom. You see that I have been diagnosed with Hyperthymia, and I have had people call me a hyperactive hamster on coffee, because I talk fast, think faster, sleep very little, and, well you get the idea." She looked at the man. "So I get very mischievous when I get bored. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bored with you or our conversation, I'm really enjoying it." She said still talking fast.

"Well, I don't really have the time for something like that today, I only just arrived and am still in the middle of organizing everything for my fighter wing and settling them in, you see. But I'll take a rain check if that's ok with you?" he asked. "It's been a while since I rode horseback, would be fun again."

"You don't want to see my quarters at this time." Krystel said quickly. "A proto-star cluster looks like a place of order." She said grinning at the man. "When you are able to get on the back of a horse, let me know. I have several programs that I really enjoy riding in. I do miss my parents ranch though. I owned my own horse. I really like taking him out every day."

"I'll let you be the director of our little horseback adventure." He mused, twirling his drink and taking another sip. "My own programs tend to concentrate more around the noisy kind of ride, rides that burn gasoline and go around a track really really fast." a smirk.

"Ah so you are into racing." Krystel said with a smirk of her own. "You know my brother Michael, loves racing motorcycles." She took a sip of her drink. "I was a little into physical activities and learning my sciences to have a real interest, but I still learn how to ride them."

"I'm afraid I'm a very typical fighter pilot." Jack mused. "I love anything that goes fast, but yeah, I like racing, and I favor mechanical means of doing so. Means everything is under my control, rather than the moods and whims of an animal." A smile. "Doesn't mean I don't enjoy horse riding, just that I'm gonna jump at every opportunity to school you and show you what real speed is." he added with a cheeky grin.

She grinned at the man herself. "I enjoy the moods and whims of an animal." She chuckled as her eyes got mischievous. "They don't have the issues of breaking down on you at the worse moment. Besides, they are very much like people. They are great to bounce ideas off of, just to hug when you need one, or just a running partner."

He gave a small shrug. "I can see your reasoning. Still prefer machines. You can program vehicles on a holodeck never to break down. They'll respond to what you tell them when you tell them and don't try to avoid danger like horses do." A smile. "It's just a preference. When I'm on a hoverbike or in a car or flying a fighter, I know that my vehicle is an extension of me. Everything that happens is a direct result of my actions, my choices, be it good or bad."

"True, but that takes all the fun out of it. Programming it on the holodeck." Krystel said with a smile. "You know that is kind of like in a science experiment. You make a mistake and it could be very serious for you or the crew."

"Eliminating a mechanical factor that's almost completely outside of your control so you can concentrate and focus on the things you can is taking all the fun out?" He sat back, quizzical look on his face. "Explain that one to me, if you can?"

"Well you have to make split second decisions with any vehicle you are in." Krystel said leaning onto the table showing a bit of her cleavage to the man. "When you are running an experiment, that is fast pace, you only have a split second to decide if you can control the reaction or spread of the experiment or to scrub it, so that it doesn't get out of hand and break containment and infect someone or something with something nasty."

A nod of understanding. "I can see that. I'm no scientist, but, yeah, I can see that." A smile. "Doesn't answer my question though. How does eliminating mechanical failure take out all the fun of racing? I see it more as making the experience more pure. No outside influence, just me, my split second decisions, my opponents and my adrenaline. It doesn't get more pure than that." A pause. "Well, not with clothes on."

"It is the chance of failure that makes it more exciting." Krystel said with a smile. "It is like exploring the unknown. You don't know what you are going to find or not find, but in the case of the mechanical failure, when or if it will happen."

"Difference of philosophy, then." Jack smiled. "I like distilling things down to their purest form and eliminating unexpected outside influences, you like the additional risk they bring."

"Chalk it up to my Hyperthymia, as I'm a bit of an adrenaline junky. It keeps me from getting bored." Krystel said with another of her cute chuckles.

"As for me, I'm out there in space risking my life in barely shielded, barely armored tin can, mixing it up with on the whole more powerful ships intent on murdering me with extreme prejudice." A nod. "Makes a measure of sense that I like to avoid unnecessary risks and prefer to have as much under my control as possible."

"In combat is a different story all together." Krystel stated. "Care to move this conversation to a more private location?"

A moment's pause. "Tell you what. I like you, Krystel. We'll go horseback riding some time first. See where things go from there. No sense rushing anything, we're on the same ship and neither of us is going anywhere." Had this been ten years ago Jack would've jumped at the opportunity, but since his marriage and his wife's as-of-yet unexplained death he had become a lot more patient and some might say cautious.

"Okay." Krystel said. "Just let me know when."

"I will." He smiled. "So how's t - " that's when yellow alert sounded and Jack turned serious. "That's my cue." he said. "If you'll excuse me~" he added, rising to his feet and heading out of the lounge at a jog.

Krystel followed the man out and turned to head towards her quarters.

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Ensign Krystel Villenova

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Lt Cmdr Jack Carver