JP: Lt JG Bec Iko & Crewman Annamae Barberra - Strokes, Squiggles and Squid Ink [Part 2]

[Zenia Emba]

((Gallery of Art, Grand Mezzanine, Amity Outpost))

She looked back at the frankly, quite weird animation, and squinted.

While Bec looked at the animation, Annamae looked out of the side of her eye at the Klingon-Human hybrid and subconsciously preened her hair.

Iko: Can we move on?

Barberra: ::Shrug:: Sure.  What do you want to look at next?

Bec did a slow 360 looking around the room with slightly darker lighting, accentuating all the holograms.

Iko: Uhm…

Barberra: Or… we could go and get a drink.  ::Shrug::

Iko: What type? Coffee? Synth?

Barberra: I was thinking Three Stripes.  You know… somewhere a bit upmarket.  Maybe we could talk.  Or I can do my robot impressions.

Bec grimaced slightly

Iko: Yeah nah…

Barberra: ::Slight smirk:: Don’t knock them until you see them.

Iko: ::shrug:: Three Stripes it is then. 

She then grabbed Barberra by the wrist and began to pull her all the way out of the gallery.  That took Annamae by surprise.

Barberra: Woah!

Iko: Oh, sorry, err…

Barberra: ::Smiling:: I’m not protesting, I’m following!

Iko: Oh okay!

Annamae opened her eyes slightly wide, and smirked a little.

Barberra: Who said chivalry was dead.

Bec shook her head, her hair getting all through her face, letting go of Barberra as she tucked it behind her ears again.

Iko: Who said what?

((Three stripes, Grand Mezzanine, Amity Outpost - a few minutes later))

After settling herself in one of the “booths”, Bec looked at Barberra with a warm smile.

Iko: So, whatcha getting?

Barberra: ::Looking at menuPADD:: Hmm, I dunno… I might order something that’s not on the list to freak the owner out.

Iko: Is that even allowed?

Barberra: It says at the bottom they’re open to any and all requests.

Iko: Trust you to find loopholes in the fineprint.

As Starfleet Liaison, that was part of Annamae’s job.  In fact, she had found plenty of them in the Kathesis Pact agreement, and had suggested and authored a raft of changes.  

Before Annamae could say anything more to Bec, the Vulcan owner of the establishment with multi-coloured hair made her way over to their table.

T’Plutok: Greetings, Lieutenant, Crewman.  I am T’Plutok.  Have you decided on a drink selection?  We have many of the finest drinks and cocktails in the quadrant, of exceptional quality and logical symmetry.

Annamae gestured for Bec to choose first.

Iko: Whiskey and coke - cola, with a lemon slice.

Barberra: Ewww, boring!

Bec rolled her eyes.

Iko: ::Shrug:: You can eat the lemon if you want…

Barberra: Okay.

Iko: Or I was going to…

Barberra: No, you can’t now, you offered it, no take backs.

Iko: ::smirk:: Only if you have the entire thing. 

Barberra: ::slight roll of eyes, before looking back at PADD:: Ugh.

T’Plutok: Very well, Lieutenant.  ::To Annamae:: And for you, crewman?

Barberra: Something with an egg in it.

Iko: ::to T’Plutok, unsure:: Just get her a cake or something?

Barberra: No!  Why would we come to a cocktail bar to order cake?

Iko: ::Side eye:: It contains eggs. Like you asked.

Barberra: ::To T’Plutok:: Do you serve cake?

T’Plutok: ::Raised eyebrow:: I can replicate some, however I cannot guarantee its quality.

Barberra: Okay, I’ll have a cocktail that has egg in it that is the main ingredient.  The weirder the better.

T’Plutok: Terran chicken eggs are not an unusual ingredient in cocktails.  But I will peruse my database and find something appropriately… ::raised eyebrow:: “weird”.  ::Taking menuPADDs:: I will return shortly with your drinks.

Bec waited until the Vulcan woman turned and made her way behind the bar before facepalming.  Annamae smirked and held her palms out, and spoke with a tone of slight protest.

Barberra: What?!

Iko: ::slightly muffled by her hands::  Just… Just… why?

Annamae shrugged before changing the subject.

Barberra: Tell me about your childhood.

Iko: Okay…?

Barberra: Do you have any siblings?

Iko: Grew up with three older brothers and my mother half the time… not that that "half the time" was any good-

Annamae leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands.

Barberra: Why is that?

Iko: I'd rather not…

Barberra: Its okay you can say.

To demonstrate that she would remain discreet, Annamae put a pretend key up to her mouth, then turned it, before throwing it over her shoulder.

Iko: ::nodding:: I said I'd rather not Barbs.

Barberra: "Barbs?"

Iko: You know what, that suits you…

Barberra:: Okay then.  ::Slight smirk:: Ikes.

Before Bec could do anything other than give a playful side eye, T’Plutok returned with a tray, containing two drinks.  She placed down a short glass with whiskey and cola in it.  A perfectly halved slice of lemon sat on each side of the glass.

T’Plutok: One whiskey and cola, with a slice of lemon - halved and symmetrically identical, and positioned diametrically on the rim…

She then placed a round, stemmed cocktail glass in front of Annamae.  It contained a deep black liquid, with a thin layer of white froth on top.

T’Plutok: And one cocktail named “She simply never should have worn that black hat”.  A tequila based cocktail with elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, honey syrup, grenadine, bitters, and, as requested, one egg white.  It also contains black Earth squid ink, to give it that colour - that is my variation on the recipe.  I anticipate that you will find it unique, and that you both find your beverages satisfactory.

The owner of Three Stripes then made her way to the patrons in the next booth.  Annamae looked down at the drink and studied it.  On the top of the glass were two perfectly matching lemon skin shavings, accompanied by two identical brandied cherries.

Bec studied her own drink, and smiled to herself, knowing the entire reason she got the lemons was to remove one and make the drink a-symmetrical, and popped the lemon slice in Barberra’s drink with a smirk.

Iko: You’re welcome.

Barberra: ::Resting side of chin on fist:: It’s *kinda* weird, I guess.

Iko: ::raised eyebrows and lowered chin:: Kinda?

The crewman lifted the drink to her lips, then took a sip. She quietly smacked her lips together a few times, before licking her lips.

Barberra: It tastes surprisingly good.

Iko:  Ooh, nice…

Barberra: No, I wanted it to taste strange.  But it’s okay.  ::Slight smile:: It’s strong.  That means we get to hang out some more.

Iko: ::warm smile, raising eyebrows subconsciously:: Oh?

Bec looked into Barberra’s eyes, and beyond the weirdness that she had, there was joy and magic and the sparkle that appeared when something different, something strange and new and exciting, it was all gorgeous… Bec shook her head slightly to dismiss the forming thought, although it almost seemed in vain.

Annamae preened the bottom of her long hair again, this time with both hands.

Barberra: Well, I guess… ::eyes looking left:: that I don’t totally not mind not having to not want to hang around you and instead rather be on my own, or not.  ::Eyes shifting right::  And I would not say yes to not wanting to do this again sometime.  Preferably with you.  If you were interested.  Or not.

She deliberately looked down and then took another sip of her drink.

And instead of questioning what the hell Barberra had just asked, Bec just said the following with a smile.

Iko: Sure!

What could possibly go wrong with that?

[END!]

======================

Lt. JG Rebecca Iko

Security Officer

Amity Outpost

A239810RI3

&

Crewman Second Class Annamae Barberra
Liaison Officer for the Starfleet Attaché
Amity Outpost
V239511WU0