Off the beaten path

Posted on Fri Oct 21st, 2022 @ 2:50am by Senior Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Stoun

2,692 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 5 - Objects In Motion
Location: Promenade deck, section 14C, sub-unit Beta
Timeline: A day

"So, you ever been to Rizzo's?" Jon's palms were sweaty, he wasn't sure if that was the best first place to go for a first date, but it was the one that popped into his head. He thought that there may not be many people there since it was a literal hole in the bulkhead. Standing on the promenade, the normal movements of people, trade, bickering about prices, engineers, crew, and traders all made the time that they had spent getting the place back up to speed all worth it.

"No I have not, sounds like a fun place to go to. Matter of fact hadn't even heard of the place until now. I've been living under a rock and in jeffery tubes as of late." She quipped, "But if it has good pizza, and wings and things to drink I'm all for it. Don't need anything fancy to keep me happy." Shailyn grinning ear to ear. She looked at the hustle and bustle of the Promenade, "We did good, didn't we, all of us, the whole crew."

"Yeah we did didn't we? Feels good to see hard work payoff huh? So about Rizzo's, umm, well, it is a literal hole in the wall. He leased some space from that Klingon place that serves the worms? He uses their kitchen and has a few tables and chairs in the back, I did him a favor and cut a hole in the bulkhead for an entrance. The food is divine if not a bit greasy, and occasionally you get a worm or two." Jon reached out and grabbed Shailyn's hand, and led her through the crowd, past a couple of Klingons singing dirges in front of the Klingon eatery, down a service corridor and to rough sliding door. He knocked twice. The door slid open to a small cobbled together bar, a few tables and chairs, and the sound of Klingon Opera booming through the wall. Rizzo's was laser etched into the wall with what looked like a phaser. Two Tellarites sat at the corner table, a pile of chicken bones between.

"Jon! Welcome!" A scruffy, older man poked his head out from the kitchen. The opera blared louder as the door swung open. "Sit anywhere you want, I'll be there in a minute." The man looked at the Tellarites and shouted something at them. The two looked back at him, shouted something in return and all three laughed.

"Well, welcome to Rizzo's, that's Rizzo, that is Vich and Shorg. Private contractor engineers, well, I guess Most Tellarites are right? What do you think?"

"Looks perfect to me." Shailyn replied. She wasn't the sort to really get into the fancy stuff, the table setting with many utensils that you have to figure out which to use first and really, way too many forks spoons and knives and think of all the dishes a person had to wash or put in the recycler.

"Finger food, things you can eat with your hands or even just a fork, spoon and knife. Definitely rough and tumble eating. And I have eaten Gagh before, doesn't taste bad." Shailyn responded.

"Same here, I really try to keep it simple." he looked around the room. " Welp, how about that one over there?" He pointed over to a table opposite of the two Tellarites, whom were in a huge debate about what he picked up as the the optimal flow rate of a reduced matter coupler; they were arguing one tenth of a percent difference. Jon pulled out a chair for Shailyn and then pulled out his own chair.

"Rizzo is pretty good with his pizza and wings, even has beer brought in from Earth occasionally. Says something about replicators not being able to reproduce the correct mineral content or something." Jon grinned at the woman across from him, he could feel a bead of sweat down his collar. "Never tried Gagh, back home we call it bait."

"Yeah, the fish would be definitely having a fight if you were to go fishing with those lively worms. And thank you" thanking him for pulling out her chair for her. "And I agree the beer from the replicator just doesn't taste quite right. " She took a deep breath to catch the scent of the food that came out from the kitchen, "Oh that smells great. What sort of pizza do you like and what heat level do you like with the wings?"

Shailyn was feeling her palms get a little sweaty and she dried them off on her pant legs. She was trying to be cool about this, could feel her heart beating rapidly again. Just seeing Jon across the table from her. Shailyn pinched herself and jumped as she felt the momentary pain from her pinch.

"Okay, this isn't a dream." she said with a smile.

"Unless I'm dreaming too, or have been abducted and we've been thrown into some elaborate device to scrape secrets from our memories." He nervously laughed, hoping that it wasn't true. "Well, I like sausage and peppers, umm, plain cheese, mushrooms, usually whatever, and wings, well I like a nice burn but not like turn your mouth into plasma hot." He grabbed a napkin from the table and dabbed his head. "I umm... glad you came to see me, I..."

"Hey there!" Rizzo came out and placed a basket of breadsticks on the table, interrupting Jon. "Chief, good to see you, though I don't know that I've met you before." He turned to Shailyn. "I'm Rizzo Pulani, Welcome to Rizzo's" he kind of motioned around the room. "I've got a couple of pepperoni pizzas in the oven now, had to wait for the Klingon targ brisket to get out before I put my stuff in, though I could grab some of that and make a sandwich for ya, the Klingons eat it just barely cooked, but I've got some that I've let smoke for about eighteen hours. I've got some cold Lager style beer from Earth, a couple of brown ales, umm an IPA." He stopped and looked at the ceiling thinking "I can probably rustle up a few Klingon beers too, though it just tastes like old tires, I've also got some chicken and jojo's that can be made up in a bit."

Rizzo gave Shailyn just a little bit of a start when he came over. "I uh the pizza sounds good, as well as the lagers. The chicken sounds great too. Er what do you think, Jon?" looking at Stoun, then she looked back at Rizzo. "If I had known about this place I would be here eating something that hopefully tastes as good as it smells." flashing a smile towards Rizzo.

"Well, it is still a bit of a ya have to know someone, as you can see the accommodations are a bit snug. Fortunately, you know this big lunk." Rizzo nudged Jon who who turned a brighter shade of red.

"Yeah, that all sounds good, umm some Nashville hot on the side if you got it?" Stoun looked up at the man.

"Sure anything for you, I'll have the lagers out in a minute. I was even able to find them in glass bottles! I'll bring that and some cold glasses out in a minute." He walked back into the kitchen and started yelling at someone in Klingon.

"So... umm." He grabbed one of the breadsticks. "Like I was saying, I am glad you came into the engineering bay, it was a nice surprise and well. So, umm hi." Jon was stammering so he took a bite of bread to stop himself.

Shailyn took one of the bread sticks and pulled it apart in to pieces and started to eat a piece of it, then she answered. "I am glad I came in as well, the only thing I could think of was to bring in coffee as I knew how you liked it. Am glad you didn't have anyone in there with you, as I would have well..." Shailyn looked down as she played with one of the pieces of bread stick with her fingers and then almost mumbled, "I would have left after dropping the coffee off, and not the pastries." her cheeks going red, and then she put the piece of bread stick in her mouth to put it out of its misery.

He stared at her, then kind of laughed. "We are terribly awkward aren't we? Well, I'm glad no one was there." He reached across the table and grabbed the woman's hand. "So" paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "What does this look like, with, well like us? I mean, I'd considered the possibility in the past but, well, never thought it would happen."

Shailyn looked up when he grabbed her hand and she looked him in the eyes, her cheeks all aflame with her blush. "Well- uh-" her hand turning over and intertwining her fingers with his. "See we fit together. Like er two cogs that keep the machinery running. Um." she softly laughed. "yeah we maybe a bit awkward but I can see us being us and being together. It just took me a little bit to gather up enough courage to try." she lightly bit her lower lip. "I've been watching you, working by your side. And having a crush on you. Worried that Amalia would be making a move on you..." her face went another shade of red it seeming to travel down her neck. Shailyn realizing she was now babbling and in fact confessing her earlier feelings.

"Sorry, I'm really bad at this, but, I like it, and I like you. This is kind of all whirlwind huh?" Jon smiled as he let go of her hands and grabbed a breadstick. "So Amalia was after me too huh?" He shoved it in his mouth before he could get in trouble.

"Well our first official meeting with the whole crew on the Copernicus, I noticed she was really looking at you. Like she was a fan of yours or something like that. I think now she is working on a relationship with Adams, thought I saw some sparks flying there between them." giving a glance towards him. "Therefore she and I are lucky, that she's not pursuing you. Otherwise erm.. I'd cold cock her." Shailyn's face going a slight beet red.

"Ha! I don't know if I'm worth a trip to the brig!" the sentiment was wonderful. The engineer laughed as Rizzo appeared through the kitchen door.

"Alright, pizza's ready!" He placed it down on the table, the pepperoni was sizzling, cheese perfectly toasted on top. "And the two beers" He placed the two beers on the table, glassess on top of them. "Alright, I'll leave you two alone."

"Thanks Rizzo" Jon turned to watch him leave, then turned his attention back to Shailyn. "So" He hesitated as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Do we just let people see us together or? It's been a while since I've had a relationship."

It warmed Shailyn's heart to hear him laugh, it seemed like it had been way too long since Jon laughed, like what he just did. And that pizza smelled great. At his question Shailyn scratched her cheek as she contemplated his question.

"Well, when on the job, we need to be professional. Off hours, if they see us together, would they even notice? If you want to hold hands when off hours sure, lets do so. You know, just be relaxed about it. Lets just enjoy this and if we want some more private moments like for instance us kissing, well, your quarters, my quarters um, They don't need to see everything." Shailyn reached over and grabbed a piece of the pizza somewhat gingerly, the ooey gooey delicious cheese stringing out which she deftly wrapped it around her finger and broke it off to eat it before she took a bite of her pizza.

Her mouth full of the bite of pizza with the pepperoni, she spoke around it, "Oooh this is soooo good." half chewing and smiling all the while.

Rizzo reappeared with the chicken and jojos and plopped them on the table next to the table nodded and ran back to the kitchen, as the door swung closed, he could be heard yelling at the someone in Klingon.

"Yeah, all of that sounds good, especially the not seeing everything part." The chicken was still hot, so he grabbed a piece of the pizza, cheese dripped and dragged off, not wanting to succumb to its fate. "After this, I've got one other place to show you if that is ok. I don't know what your schedule looks like, but I'm off till twenty two hundred, I'm running graveyard tonight." The cheese finally gave in. Jon let it fall into his mouth with a bite of the pizza.

"Well, I'll have to talk to my boss to see if he'll allow me to have the rest of the day off. He is a bit of a stickler on protocol." giving Jon a bit of a teasing wink. "I did start work early though and have put in overtime. Let me contact him and ask for an early out. Besides tomorrow is my day off and well wouldn't hurt would it if I took off early?" she pretended to tap her combadge, "Chief Stoun this is Petty Officer Lothian I'd like to leave work early, I've got something personal I need to attend to. Do I have permission to end my work day?"

Shailyn reached out and took Jon's hand gazing into his eyes. "Once I get permission, I would love to see the place you are talking about."

"Permission granted." The engineer chuckled, it was sweet and endearing. "Tell ya what." He grabbed his beer, and popped the top on it, almost completely faded label read something like "Budser" though many of the letters had been rubbed off or lost to time. Foregoing the usual cup pour, Jon offered to Shailyn and grabbed the other bottle. "How about to umm... I don't know, neither of us screwing this up, sound good?" he held the bottom of the bottle towards his new girlfriend.

She took the bottle and clinked the bottom of her bottle with his. "Just need to realize even relationships can be fixed, if we are willing to do so, and definitely communication. Can't guarantee we won't fight from time to time. If you're willing then I am definitely willing." looking at her boyfriend. She paused before taking a drink from her beer, she had a boyfriend! "Holy smoke we're an item!" trying to keep her voice down but the excitement was there, in her beaming smile.

"Yeah, we are Starfleet Engineers, anything can be fixed." The engineer returned the smile. It was a nice warm fuzzy feeling he was getting from the whole interaction. "How about we grub down on this before it gets cold, I'm sure we can send any leftovers to either one of our quarters. Sound good? And I've got one other place to show you, but, umm it is a bit of a climb."

"Yup lets eat and well, so what if it is a bit of a climb, remember, engineer?" gesturing towards herself with a thumb. "Climbing in Jefferies tubes" waggling her eyebrows up and down. "Dangling over open area below, that is what I have done so.. A climb doesn't worry me at all." picking up another piece of pizza to eat.

"Alright fair, but, can't tell anyone about it. Sound good?" He grabbed a slice of pizza. His stomach said no but the smell was almost a siren song. "Another of of my go and hide places."

Shailyn looked at Jon. "I do not kiss and tell." giving a wink. "And if we are kissing there, I won't be telling." giving a laugh.

She grabbed one more slice, and just enjoyed the rest of the meal until Jon was ready to go. Still feeling a bit giddy as she had a boyfriend. It was an amazing feeling!


END

 

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