Shenanigans Pt 2

Posted on Mon Sep 21st, 2020 @ 7:51pm by Commander Samantha Howard & Commander Jonathan Grayson
Edited on on Mon Sep 21st, 2020 @ 7:51pm

Mission: Return to Paradise
Location: Earth

“Oh my.” Jon looked at the drinks. “We may never get back to the ship if we finish those Sam.” He looked at the fishbowls again and blinked, shook his head and blinked again. Inside the fishbowl containing the drink was another sealed fishbowl much smaller containing a goldfish swimming happily about.

“ Does it matter? We have our careers, and we’re on shoreleave for the next week or two. Who cares! Bottoms up!” Howard grasped the straw and took a long swig, shuddering at the amount of alcohol in there mixed with a cocktail of syrups and juices. Every time one took a sip the colour combination would change slightly. Rather clever really.

“When you put it like that, no it doesn’t matter.” Jon replied honestly. “Bottoms up!” He replied as he took his fishbowl and took a looooooong sip from the straw. “Ohhhhhhhhh! That is fantastic!” He stated and immediately took another long draw of drink into his mouth. “You know what? Forget the ship. This is great.”

“ Damned straight, I don’t care if I can’t walk after this.. Shh….. don’t tell the Captain” Sam started to slur, the room was starting to spin in large lazy circles.

“T’s okay Sam.” Jon replied, his own words beginning to slur. “I’ll carry you back to whatever ship we’re on.” As he finished the fishbowl. “That was soooooooo great.”

The jukebox cranked up a notch, an obscure mix of music from the late 2000’s blaring from the speaker.

“ Ugh - who’s choice of music is THAT? It’s terrible!” Sam squinted towards the source of the noise but could only make out some blurry figures and a jukebox that now appeared to be dancing. Yep - she was wasted.

Jon finished the last of the rings and looked over at Sam. “Come on, you need some fresh air.” He said as he shakily got to his feet. “Here let me help you up Sam.”

“ I’m fine… I can...almost walk” Sam stumbled as she tried to walk unassisted. Why was the floor moving?

“Yeah, sure you can Sam. You're just doing great.” Jon said sarcastically. “You’ve been standing in the same place for fifteen minutes.”

“ Have NOT!” Sam retorted as she attempted to put one foot in front of the other. If she were taking an old fashioned ‘drunk’ test on the side of the road where she had to walk along the white line she would have well and truly failed.

“Come on Sam, take my hand and we can wobble out of here together.” Jon told her as he watched her weave and wobble toward him.

“ Thanks, I don’t want another famous photo up on the wall” Sam managed as she held his hand for stability. The sun was starting to wax and wane with the late afternoon, the street lights were coming on and the nightlife that surrounded Starfleet HQ and the Academy was just beginning to awaken.

“Not going to let that happen.” He told her as his hand grasped hers. “Let’s get some fresh air, I think we both can use it.” As they wobbled toward and out the door.”

It was a crisp evening, the cooler air a welcome change to the warmth of the bar, there were people of all sorts everywhere, heading home, heading in for the evening, and those after some nightly entertainment at their favourite venue.

“ Ahhh much better” Sam headed towards a nearby vacant park bench overlooking the streetscape.

The cooler air was like a skin bracer for Jon, he felt instantly better, not clear headed sober but
Better. He took a seat next to Sam and watched the people scurry by all in a hurry to go nowhere. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I missed this. Being planetside here on Earth. I don’t think there is any better planet to be on.” he mused.

“ There’s something nice about having your feet on the ground. Not that I seem to be able to keep them there” Sam retorted, closing her eyes for a minute and breathing in the slightly salty air. The sea breeze was a cleansing wash of humidity and air currents, cooling her warm skin.
“ Too damned humid this close to the water though, give me the dry heat and I’m happy”

“Me, I’d like to live in the mountains, that cool, crisp mountain air. Have to love it.” Jon retorted with a smile.

“Ditto, some are drawn to the water, some are drawn to the mountains. Where I came from summers were hot and dry, winters were cool, but there was no humidity” Sam lamented, wondering if she was going to have time for a trip back home before they left. That was if she didn’t end up in some holding cell unable to hold her liquor.

“That’s true Sam just one thing. Hot is hot and there’s no getting around that.” Jon answered, leaning back on the bench,

“ Yeah but when you grow up with it you don’t notice it” Sam recalled “It’d probably burn my ass these days though - too long in the cool climate controlled air of Starship life”

Jon laughed at the observation,”That’s probably true Sam. I’d probably freeze in place if I went home now. Been gone too long. I wonder if you really can go home again?”
“ Depends on what crops up during shore leave. Given our track record of late you can bet your ass something will happen to turn this tranquil quiet time on its ear” Howard mused, looking at the people who walked by. How long had it been since she had stopped and did nothing?

“Hush Sam, don’t ruin the moment.” Jon admonished her gently. “Maybe we can go somewhere that they can’t find us. Though I don’t know if such a place exists. But it sure would be fun to try
and see.”

“ Such as where? Bottom of the ocean, a remote cliffside where transporters and communicators and global detection systems won’t work? Such places don’t exist. And I swear trouble is my second, third and fourth names.” The doctor smirked, watching the sky change from a brilliant blue to golds and pinks of sunset. It was a spectacular sight

“But Sam. It’s nice just to dream. To hope that there is a place to escape to if only briefly. To take a break from life. Not escape, just get a breather from it. You know ? A place over the rainbow if you like.”

“ When you figure out how to get there, move over cos I’m moving in” Howard giggled, wishing forlornly for just a moment for a life that wasn’t all duty and dedication to the uniform. Sometimes it was nice just to ‘be’ without any aspiration or intentions. Just to exist.

“We can be neighbors.” Jon chuckled. “Say? Can you stand? Walk reasonably well? I have an idea. Make you feel young.” He told her.

Half an hour or so had passed since they’d be chatting on the park bench, her liver was slowly processing the alcohol in her system and promising that tomorrow morning was NOT going to be pleasant to wake up to.

“ Sure, I think the first round is wearing off, bipedal locomotion may be possible” She stood experimentally and tested the equilibrium. It wasn’t great but it was workable.

Jon stood next to her, swaying only slightly. He looped his arm So Sam could use it for support.
Got just the thing for us. No, not more drinks. There’s one in my home state and I found this one by accident when I was exploring the city a few years ago. You’ll love it.” he told her confidently.

Having absolutely no idea what he was talking about but not really caring about that minor fact Sam nodded “ Sure, Why not have an adventure whilst you’re half tanked on your first day of shore leave?”

“Exactly!” Jon said happily maybe a little too happily. “And as you said we’re only half tanked and this has nothing to do with drinking. “So come on, adventure awaits!”

Sam stepped forward cautiously, settling on the old left foot right foot technique until her balance seemed to sort itself out. She walked beside Jon through the darkened streets of the city, trusting that wherever they were going would be the adventure promised.

Jon led her down the streets, one turn led to another and still another until they arrived at their destination. “We’re here!” Jon said excitedly as he swept his arm out in front of him, causing him to sway like a tree in a high wind. “Look! Isn’t it beautiful?” He asked, staring at it.

The it in question was a skating rink! But a huge rink, with a few people out on the ice. But not just any skating rink this one was done up in multicolor lights and had a huge Christmas in the middle of it. Also done up in lights. Jon just stared and smiled like a kid. Holiday music could faintly be heard from where they stood.

Sam’s jaw dropped. Ice Skating was a sport not common in her home country, she’d only ever tried it once or twice in her lifetime. Penny’s and Pounds as the saying went.

“ Okay, NOT what I was expecting” She admitted, nerves starting to cut through the alcohol induced confidence.

Jon took her hand, “Come on!” He said as he led her down the steps to the rink. “This will be fun.” Then he stopped and looked over at Sam. “Wait. You can’t ice skate?”

“ You ever see an ice rink where the ambient temperature is 35C most of the time?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “ You may have to scrape me off the ice a few times”

“I’m sorry Sam. I didn’t think. Please forgive me.” Jon felt terrible. He wanted Sam to enjoy herself, have a good time. This was terrible.

“ No no, I’ll give it a go, it’ll be fun - I can guarantee you I won’t be very good at it. You’ll have to teach me” Sam stammered, realising she’d made Jon feel bad.

“No. We’ll find something else Sam. I want you to enjoy yourself, not worry about breaking something.” Jon replied. His face brightened, “You think you could handle some dancing? There’s a Hard Rock cafe not far from here.”

“ Now that IS something I can do” The doctor quipped, silently thankful she wasn’t going to make a fool of herself for not being able to ice skate properly.

“Wonderful! Lets go and dance the night away!” Jon remarked as he turned away from the skating rink and towards the cafe.

“ Let me warn you, my ability to dance is directly proportional to the amount of alcohol I may have consumed, as is my ability to remember said dance” There was a touch of honesty in the words. She was more than ‘merry’ at the moment.
“Sam, don’t worry. This will be fun.” Jon replied as they arrived at the entrance of the cafe. He paid the cashier and they entered to loud music and blinking disco lights. *Oh boy!* He thought slightly, *How did I think this was a good idea?*

“ You ok?” She asked, pausing as Jon hesitated momentarily. The music was obnoxiously loud and the flashing lights were next level.

He flashed her a smile,”Sure!” He answered, hiding his doubt. “Let's get a table and then we can get on the dance floor.” He answered leading the way through the crowds until they found a table not too close to the dance floor. “This okay?” He asked turning back to look at Sam.

“ Much better than face planting on hard ice and getting my fingers cut off with ice skates” Howard retorted, looking around at the surroundings. The dance floor was packed, the DJ was going off and the bar was busy. If one wanted to forget everyone and everything - this looked like the place to do it

“Geez Sam.” Jon replied. “ You make ice skating sound like some violent contact sport. I don’t think anyone has ever had their fingers cut off from ice skating.” He looked around, “I don’t remember it being this loud.” He said by way of explanation.

“ It looks that way to the outsider, you lot and your winter sports and all that” She snorted before heading up to the bar and squeezing her way to the front.

Jon just smiled at his friend. If Sam felt that way about ice skating, he wondered how she felt about skiing. Probably think he had a death wish. He watched her make her way to the front of the bar. He wondered what she was ordering now.

It was a good 15 minute before Sam actually got served, despite squishing her way to the front. She returned with two tall glasses with light coloured liquid. Simple and refreshing.

“And what pray tell do you have there?” Jon asked, eyeing the glasses and the liquid inside.


“ Iced tea, nothing to see here” Sam quipped as she placed the glasses on the table and took her seat.

“Ice tea?” Jon questioned then thought about it. After what he and Sam had to drink, ice tea was probably a good idea.

“ Yep, hydrating with some simple sugars, clean taste and excellent for preventing the mother of all hangovers which is already threatening” She replied after taking a long sip. It was indeed refreshing.


“I believe you Sam. I was only asking.” Jon replied as he continued to look at his drink but hadn’t actually touched it.

“ Something on your mind?” There was a hint on concern as Jon’s mood seemed to have changed over the last few minutes.

“What? Oh no Sam”. This will actually prevent a hangover?” He asked.

“It’ll address the dehydration portion of said hangover, which is generally the worst part. The other part is Vitamin B deficiency so I suggest eating a vegemite sandwich before bed” The words rattled off her tongue before she could stop them. Once a doctor, always a doctor.

“A simple yes would have been fine Sam and you can forget me eating a vegemite sandwich, those are nasty.” Jon replied lifting the glass to his lips and taking a sip/

“ Have you… EVER...tried one?” There was a certain challenge in the words. The world was full of a very divisible line - those that loved the vegemite, and those that loathed it. It was almost a rite of passage in some countries.

“I don’t have to get bitten by a rattlesnake to know it will hurt. However to answer your question no, I have not and will not.” Jon said stubbornly. “Have you had one?” He challenged.

“Only for breakfast almost every day of my younger life. The joys” Sam mused, taking another sip of her iced tea and relishing the fresh clean taste.

“Oh yuck.” Jon replied, not bothering to hide his disgust for the sandwich. “Since you like them so much, you can have mine as well.”

“ It’s your headache” Sam snorted, thinking she just may very well in fact do just that.

“True but I know the Chief Medical Officer and she’ll fix me right up.” Jon bantered back at her.

“ Not if she drinks you under the table” There was a snort that was hastily covered up.

“Fat chance of that happening.” Jon snapped back.

“Challenge accepted” The iced tea was drained and there was a steely determination on her features.

Jon smiled at her the way a wolf smiles at a sheep. He picked up his ice tea and downed it in one gulp. “Excellent. Let’s do this.”