The boys are back in town

Posted on Thu Oct 3rd, 2019 @ 11:31pm by Lieutenant Commander Calvin Morgan & Lieutenant Commander William Rogers

The the local star crested the horizon, washing the morning sky pink and purple. The couple stood on the beach, half way between the promenade and where the waves washed up on the beach. Standing on the taller side of medium, the lady wore a Starfleet uniform banded in pale blue. Pointed ears poked out from under close cropped blonde hair. Her companion stood a head taller, well built and clad in a light button down shirt and shorts. Where his shirt was unbuttoned several surgical scars were visible on his chest. She kissed him, stepped back and vanished into the haze of a transporter.

Bill took his comm badge out of his pocket and pinned it to his shirt. He turned and headed inland, waving to a figure he spotted on the promenade.

Calvin walked causally from the promenade towards his friend. While shore leave wasn't normally his thing, the medical staff convinced him it was by kicking him out of sickbay. He in turn showed his novitiate with pale white legs showing from his khaki cargo shorts. A grey t-shirt covered with an unbuttoned thin collar shirt complete with rolled up sleeves. He completed the look with a baseball hat and sneakers. One wouldn't need to see his comm badge pinned underneath the button down to know he was Starfleet.

"Company last night?" He asked pointing behind Bill as they got closer, indicating he saw the glow of a transport beam.

"Yeah, good company too." Bill replied, knowing smirk tugging at his lips. "What brings you out at this time? Early start or late finish?"

"Early start," Calvin said with a chuckle, seeing the obvious smirk. "Apparently while in charge of sickbay, I can get kicked out of it for being there," he held up his fingers in air quotes, "too damn much, and work too much." He gave a causal shrug. "You at a coffee and breakfast state, or an alcohol and breakfast state?"

"I could go for either. Coffee and breakfast seems more civilised though." Bill shrugged slightly and laughed. "I don't get the same effect out of them as I used to."

"Coffee and breakfast it is!" Calvin turned and walked back towards the Promenade with Bill. They walked in silence for a bit, the morning sky changing from its hue of morning colors to a vibrant blue speckled with clouds. "Fellow crew member?" He asked, breaking the silence finally.

"I don't think so?" A thoughtful frown washed over the pilot's face as he tried to recall if it had come up in conversation. "She was supposed to transfer to the Valhalla. Said something about waiting for a new assignment."

"Valhalla? That sounds familiar I think. Well hopefully it doesn't get awkward for you," he said with an elbow nudge. "You know, like your new flight officer or something," Calvin had a chuckle at that. "Not that I would know," he added, with just a tinge of remorse to the statement. They got to the edge of the Promenade and found a small cafe that was empty except for a couple old guys in booths by themselves, reading silently while toying with their coffee cups.

Bill laughed, deciding against prodding for info on the regret he'd heard in the other man's voice. "She said she was a doctor. Or was it a nurse? Either way, blue uniform, so I think I'm safe." He picked a table with a view of the Promenade and sat down.

"Hmm," Calvin said as he looked over the menu. He pretty much knew what he was going to get, but decided to give the menu a cursory look. "Well if she's in my department, I'll keep an ear out for it," Calvin gave a wink. The waitress came over, who looked like she had as long of a night as his breakfast partner. Calvin ordered coffee, corn beef hash, and eggs as he closed the menu.

Bill shared a joke with the waitress as he made his order; fried eggs, sausages, bacon, beans, hash browns, pancakes and waffles. "All I ask is fair warning if you're planning on trying to set us up." Laughter escaped from him once again. "Fraternisation was a far bigger deal in my time ."

"Mwah? Cause problems? Never," He replied with a very serious tone. He took a sip of his coffee that had appeared without him even noticing. "I'm hurt you would even insinuate such a thing."

Bill watched the doctor for a moment, trying to ascertain if he was joking with him. "Sorry."

Calvin couldn't hold the hurt face anymore, breaking into a grin and chuckling. "Sorry, sorry. Mean of me. I'm a total problem causer when I want to be. Guilty as charged."

"Son of a bitch." Bill smiled and shook his head. "You got me good." he paused to take a sip of his coffee before continuing. "So what trouble do you plan on causing with your day off?"

Calvin shrugged. "I'd like to get kicked out of at least one bar. Maybe have a friendly chat with some security? Figured I'd wing it and see what happens. You get enough sleep last night to play today? Or do you need a nap?"

oO## Life Support Failure. Pod 4.##Oo "Figure I've slept plenty. Once I fuel up..." he indicated the large plate of food he ordered, "...I'll be good to go. Plus I heard of a few bars in the other side of the tracks that we can totally get thrown out of."

Calvin nodded, picking up the utensils to begin on his own feast. "Lets fuel up and then go cause some havoc then." He said with a devious smile.

Bill ate with close to alarming gusto. "This is good for a boardwalk dinner fair."

"Yeah it is," Calvin replied after swallowing the food he had just finished chewing. "Heard about it from someone, I forget who." He picked up his coffee, taking the last sip before the waitress stopped to give him a warmer. "It's a little off the beaten path but I like them that way better."

"What really gets me is just the range of food available, you know?" Bill's voice gave away sense of genuine wonder. "Even the real high end restaurants I worked at as a teenager didn't have half this amount of stuff on the menu. Never mind the out of the way places like this."

"Resources are a bit easier to obtain these days then from your childhood," Calvin replied. "And this place definitely seems to take a bit of the diner mentality from Earth. The menu is definitely impressive. It's almost 20 pages."

" All it took to convince the fat cats to share was learning how to create stuff out of thin air." Bill wasn't able to suppress a flicker of resentment from crossing his face as he spoke. He stamped it out quickly, returning to his usual joviality. "It's kinda like Al's Diner and Planet Hollywood had a kid."

Calvin raised an eyebrow, but figured it was a reference to something from his past. He downed the rest of his coffee, setting the empty cup down next to the empty plate. "Ready to go cause havoc?"

Bill popped the last of his waffles into his mouth and grinned. "Let's do this."