“So, Hazard Team, huh? So you’re the guy who’s going to be pulling my ass out of the fire when we’re in trouble then?” She asked, crooking her finger to get him to follow her out into the main room. Heading over to the replicator, she glanced over her shoulder. “Coffee?”
“That would be me, yes,” he confirmed, following her. “Coffee would be great, but don’t I owe you the coffee?” Granted, their current location made it difficult for him to treat her to a steaming cup of java, but he meant what he’d said about getting her coffee whenever she wanted.
”That’s tomorrow. This is now and I have to get used to doing this hospitality thing, don’t I?” She ordered two coffees, waiting for a moment then bringing them to the coffee table between the easy chairs set under the window.
“So, you said you were new here as well?” She asked as she sat down, watching him over the rim of the mug. He moved with an easy confidence that she liked.
Griffin took a sip before replying. The hot liquid gave him a moment to fully settle back into himself after his epic blunder. It also gave him an opportunity to judge the quality of the coffee. The settings on the replicator seemed to be dialed in, thankfully. Nothing worse than being stuck on a ship with crap coffee and a wonky replicator.
“Yes, just arrived. I don’t even know if my belongings made it to my quarters yet, but seeing how yours made it here without any mishaps gives me hope.” He took another sip before cradling the warm mug between his hands. “I’m sure it’s all good, though. If things are getting lost, someone’s going to have a very bad day.”
“Oh really? I know who I’m sending to collect late department reports then,” she teased lightly. Flicking a glance over at her trunk, she groaned slightly and dropped her head back. “I still have to unpack.”
He glanced at her trunk. “Sometimes I wonder which is worse? Packing or unpacking. I think unpacking is easier. Mostly because you always seem to acquire more stuff with each assignment. Makes it harder to fit everything back into the same trunk. Then you need another trunk,” he stated with a sigh. “I have more than one trunk. Obviously. One for the normal personal effects, but I have a lot of gear. I’ve added to my kit over the years, specific gear or tools that aren’t exactly standard fleet issue, but are excellent to have.”
She looked at her trunk again. Just one. Was she weird for that? “What kind of gear?” She asked, leaning over to put her empty mug on the coffee table. “For work?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Some of it started specifically for work, but also for some of my hobbies. I have one trunk that is packed full of climbing rope. That’s always fun to explain to Ops when they start nitpicking why I have extra trunks. Climbing ropes, carabiners, all the stuff that’s necessary for safety. Helmets, harnesses… then there are the tools. I try to keep those to a minimum, because I really got some strange looks about a really nice ice axe I had years ago.” He shrugged and continued. “Various picks and pry bars that I designed specifically for dealing with jammed doors or collapsed bulkheads. I also have some inflatable air bags that work as jacks for when it’s impossible to get an actual hydraulic jack into a confined space. I also have a small collection of weaponry, but that’s more just because I like them. I had to get special permission for those. They have come in handy a time or two.”
“Yeah, ropes and weaponry is a little different to the usual. Once had Ops escalate a problem with an incoming crewmember with a selection of travornian cacti. Carnivorous. They ate his neighbours pet rats. Ropes seem far safer.”
She crossed one leg over the other. “You like climbing then? Must admit, it’s not something I’ve ever tried.” Mostly because she’d been so focused on getting to the big chair, she hadn’t actually picked up a hobby that didn’t give her an advantage in that race.
If Griff was being honest with himself, he’d prefer the carnivorous cacti over a rat any day of the week, but he understood people liked different things. He had a friend who kept Jumping Spiders as pets. They were kind of cute.
“Yes, I do like climbing. It’s a challenge and it tends to keep you in prime physical condition. If you’d like to try it, I have several holodeck programs that are specifically designed for climbing simulations. It’s a good way to learn if you can’t actually get somewhere with real rocks and cliffs.”
”Are you sure? I mean… I’d like that but I am an absolute beginner. Completely and utterly. Probably get myself tied up in the ropes or something. Okay, keep talking.”
She levered herself out of her chair and crossed to her trunk, retrieving a bottle. “Whiskey?”
He chuckled. “Everyone has to start somewhere and it’s usually at the beginning. I would love to show you the ropes,” he flashed a big grin. “Pun intended. I think you’ll do better than you think you will.”
The offer of whiskey was unexpected, but since he wasn’t on duty… “Yes, please. Thanks. I’m not on duty until tomorrow,” he admitted, then glanced at his uniform. “Someone spilled some sauce on my clothes and all I had with me as spare clothing was my uniform. I thought they were watching where they were going. I was wrong.”
”It’s not fancy, I’m afraid,” she admitted, crossing to the small bar console table. Hell, they really did mean for her to do the hosting thing, didn’t they? Retrieving two glasses, she put them down on the coffee table and poured two generous measures. She looked at the label. “I should probably get fancier stuff.”
Taking a sip, she waited for the burn all the way down to her stomach. “I generally find a good glare makes them stop in their tracks.” She’d never really had trouble getting attention. Sometimes she hadn’t wanted it, not as a teen when all she’d wanted to do was fade into the background, but she’d soon learned to use it to her advantage.
“I should remember that the next time I’m in a crowded room. I’ve never had someone just run into me before like that, so now I wonder if it was on purpose.” He made a face, twisting his mouth as he replayed the scenario in his mind. “I sure hope that’s not some new trend of trying to get someone’s attention. It won’t end well,” he groused and took a sip of the whiskey.
“Huh… not bad, but yes, if you’re going to get stuck hosting, having the good stuff on hand would be best. Never know who you’ll have to schmooze with. Can’t risk offending someone with subpar whiskey.” It wasn’t bad at all based on the taste and the burn spreading the warmth in his stomach.
”Usually the height stops them,” she commented. He was tall, at least four or five inches taller than she was. She was used to men being her height or shorter. Swishing her whiskey in the glass, she pursed her lips. “Yeah, god forbid some dignitary gets rotgut. I could cause a diplomatic incident or something. Hey, at least we’re not a diplomatic ship.” She raised her glass in a salute.
“For that, I am grateful. I don’t think I need to tell you what a nightmare it is to have to rescue diplomats from a lift that got stuck because they caused it to malfunction by arguing over which level they wanted to go to first after a lengthy meeting.” Griffin half suspected it had been done on purpose somehow, but no one wanted to waste time proving it after the fact. He still had nightmares occasionally about the Cardassian woman’s chronic bad breath as he rescued her. That was worse than his itchy scalp many times over. He shuddered at the memory.
“Makes me glad I don’t have to play nice and mind my p’s and q’s like the command staff in those situations.”
”Perhaps we should both put in for a transfer to the Shran class in the squadron,” she chuckled as she poured them another shot of whiskey. “No diplomatic duties for that. It’s weapons strapped to an engine. But if you get caught having to rescue diplomats again, I’ll have to come to your rescue.”
He lifted his glass in salute. “I will hold you to that, Vynnie. Seriously.” With that, he tossed back the rest of the whiskey, then wheezed. “I don’t think my eyebrows will grow back a second time.”
