Surprise Guest

Posted on Thu May 27th, 2010 @ 10:28pm by Lieutenant JG Hannah Andeti & Vice Admiral Iluvar

Mission: Episode 1.2 - "A House Divided"
Location: Orient Express Lounge, USS Pandora
Timeline: MD 08, 1820

::BACKPOST::

ON: [[Orient Express Lounge, USS Pandora, MD 08, 1820]]

Yuris (NPC) surveyed the lounge with satisfaction, pleased to see how well his staff was handling the sudden influx of ship's personnel. Each day was a new adventure in this line of business, especially with so many new faces to learn. It was a good thing he had a knack for that kind of thing, being El-Aurian. He watched as Greg (NPC) served a table of four on the far side of the room. The young man was one of the more recent additions to the team, but by far one of the most promising.

Hannah was in a good mood as she entered the bar alone. She had had a good and productive day and felt the need for a drink less as some kind of coping mechanism and more as an introduction to what she hoped would be a very pleasant evening. She nodded to one of the servers with a smile and looked carefully around the lounge, taking in the relaxed and chatting groups, before sidling up to the bar. She paused before ordering, with a smile to the barman.

"Good evening, counselor," Yuris greeted the woman warmly, "Always a pleasure to see you again."

"I'd like something . . . exotic tonight. Any suggestions?" The counselor considered and folded her hands on the bar top.

"Oh, I'm sure I have a few," the El-Aurian replied as went for one of the cooling units under the counter. A familiar whirr caused Yuris to look up toward the large wooden doors that marked the entrance to the Orient Express and smiled when he saw who it was that had entered the room. He watched as the man made a brief visual survey of the room and, appearing satisfied, started toward the bar.

She watched as Yuris made one smooth movement to fetch her drink and turned to the man beside her with a smile still in place. "I didn't expect to see you here, sir."

"Would you prefer that I returned to my quarters, counselor," Iluvar asked in light manner as he finished another survey of the room. He had heard that many of the crew had been enjoying the benefits of the lounge and judging by the size of the current crowd, those reports hadn't been exaggerated.

"I don't think that will be necessary, sir." The counselor chuckled. "Actually it's good to see you doing something off duty."

"Well, I've heard so much about the Orient Express," Iluvar explained with a quick glance in Yuris' direction, "That I figured I'd better come take a look and see for myself."

Hannah smiled. "So this is purely a reconnaissance mission, then?"

"I suppose you could say that," Iluvar said with a slight chuckle as he turned away from the rest of the room to focus his attention on the counselor. Even when off duty, Iluvar knew that she would likely be analyzing everything that he said and did, trying to better understand him. Being a counselor was one of those positions that never really ended up being totally "off duty".

"So what do you think so far?" Andeti asked as her own drink arrived. She smiled. "Does the Admiral approve?"

A small smile tugged at the corners of Iluvar's mouth. "I'd hardly consider two minutes enough time to come to an adequate conclusion," he said, "Would you?" He watched as she took a sip of the bright purple liquid that she had been served. It had been his intention to check-out the lounge far sooner, but between one thing and another, this was the first chance he had found the time to actually make a visit. Like he had said, he didn't really have enough of a basis to go on yet.

Hannah chuckled. "True." She sipped her drink and eyed it closely before taking another. She smiled at Yuris to show her approval. "So how's Aris settling in?" She asked, knowing that it sounded like a counselor question, although she was genuinely curious to know how the boy was doing.

"Aris is doing well," Iluvar replied confidently. The boy had been understandably hesitant when first hearing that they would be moving to the Pandora, but Iluvar had a feeling that Aris had already found some things aboard the Pandora that interested him. "He's been spending a lot of time in the arboretum," Iluvar continued, "I think he enjoys being surrounded by real plant life rather than holographic recreations."

"It must really help him adjust." Hannah smiled. "Having access to something like the arboretum I mean. It would make being aboard a ship like this easier for a child to handle, I'd imagine." She laughed, realizing that she had regressed into professionalism. She didn't apologize but changed the subject. "How do you like the Pandora, sir?"

"Perhaps a better question is," Iluvar replied, turning the question back on the counselor, "how do you like it?"

Hannah laughed, but nodded. "A lot, actually." She shrugged. "I guess I'm a girl who likes her leisure time and there's certainly a variety of leisure activities around here."

Iluvar smiled again, pleased to see that the members of his staff were settling into their new home quite well. As long as the crew was adjusting well enough, then he knew that they would continue to perform at their best. It was something he had always admired about them and that he had come to depend on.

The counselor enjoyed her drink in the hushed room and felt herself relax with the drink. She felt no need to force the Captain into conversation but enjoyed his company, conversant or not.

"You want to know why I'm really down here," Iluvar said quietly as he turned to survey the room. It wasn't an admonition, merely an observation. As a commanding officer, he could understand how difficult it was to separate work from recreation and he had a feeling that the level of difficulty was similar for those who were counselors by profession. It was only natural for her to be curious about his intentions when he had made a very strong presence for himself on the ship's social scene.

The counselor grinned and put down her glass. "Absolutely."

"I'm sure you would," Iluvar replied, "However, we will be reaching the Romulan Neutral Zone soon and, from what I've heard, the Romulans have a very busy schedule planned for us." He could see the slight disappointment in Andeti's eyes at his response. What she said was true, though. The amount of time that he spent amongst the crew in his off duty hours was not as great as other members of the senior staff, but that was no different than most commanding officers. More often than not, it was administrative paperwork or mission assignments that had kept him busy, even in the hours he was not on the bridge.

Ever since he had adopted Aris, he had tried to make more personal time to spend with the boy, which seemed to have helped improve their relationship. They would spend time on the holodeck or just take an afternoon for themselves in their quarters. On a few occasions, they had taken advantage of the opportunity to go planet-side while docked at Starbase 386 to enjoy the fresh air and open wilderness. It was easy to see how some amongst the crew might think him reclusive. "Perhaps, once we've finished our tour of Romulan space, you might be interested in accompanying me to the arboretum," Iluvar suggested, "Aris has been telling me about all the plants he has been working with and I would very much like to see his work for myself."

Hannah was surprised but pleased with the request but found herself smiling again. The truth was she had always been very curious about their reclusive Captain. She nodded. "I'd like that, sir. I ran into Aris there a few weeks ago and he seems to be keeping the place up well."

"I'm sure he'd be glad to hear that you enjoyed your visit, counselor," Iluvar said with a smile.

"He has a lot to be proud of." She paused. "Has he had much opportunity to socialize with others his age since coming aboard?" The counselor was well aware that there were other young people on board, but doubted that Aris would actively seek their companionship.

Iluvar shifted slightly. Admittedly, to his knowledge, the only other "individual" anywhere close to the counselor's description that Aris had been spending was Peter (NPC), but he was pretty certain that Andeti wasn't referring to holograms. "Aris tends to prefer his personal time," Iluvar responded, "Being one-half Ba'ku, I suppose it would be difficult for him to live in a technologically-rich environment like our own."

"True," the counselor agreed. She did hope that the boy would find someone on board he felt comfortable with other than the Captain but wasn't about to push the matter. If his father wasn't concerned by his isolationist tendencies who was she to say otherwise? "Actually I've got a couple of books I thought he might like if you wouldn't mind my bringing them by." She grinned. "Assuming the ship's Library hasn't already absorbed him completely."

"That's making a pretty big assumption, counselor," Iluvar said with a slight laugh, "If he isn't in the arboretum, I usually find him in the library. Before long, I think he'll have read the entire collection. I'm sure he'd be interested in a few new books to read. He's never turned them down before."

Hannah laughed. "A pretty big assumption?" She shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe just remembering myself at that age." She didn't voice the fact that she had had a significantly greater social life than Aris seemed to.

Iluvar was just about to reply to the counselor when his commbadge chirped once. "Excuse me," he said, motioning apologetically to Andeti.

Hannah nodded, understanding all to well the call of duty and motioned for a refill as the admiral responded.

Excusing himself, Iluvar made his way for the doorway and disappeared out into the corridor. Yuris (NPC) returned shortly with the counselor's refill, watching the man go. "Sounded like a pleasant conversation," he remarked as he set the glass down in front of Andeti.

Hannah smiled and nodded her thanks for the drink. "Eavesdropping were you?" She grinned and laughed.

The El-Aurian gave Andeti a disappointed look, though the look in his eyes told her he wasn't being too serious about it. Still, he did a good job playing the wounded look. "Counselor, I would never eavesdrop," he said with a small smile, "When you've been in customer service as long as I have, you can tell when things are going well...or not so well for that matter."

The counselor grinned. "Next thing I know you'll be after my job with insight like that."

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that, counselor," Yuris said with a laugh, "I am quite content to be where I am, thank you very much."

Hannah laughed and sipped her drink again as she watched a couple down the bar talking quietly together. She sighed, the atmosphere in the Orient Express was certainly more peaceful than her suite usual was. She turned back to Yuris. "I don't blame you."

OFF

A JP by:

Rear Admiral Iluvar
Commanding Officer
USS Pandora

Lieutenant JG Hannah Andeti
Chief Counselor
USS Pandora

and

Yuris Eldar (NPC)
Orient Express Host
USS Pandora
Played by: RAdm Iluvar