Old Foes

Posted on Thu Jun 28th, 2018 @ 4:52am by Lieutenant Jaton Alyl & Lieutenant JG Scotty Kayne

Jaton was in Ten Forward looking over the reports of the day. He took a sip of his cup of Turkish coffee, hoping it might help dispel the image of the ringleader in pieces on the floor of the arena. It did no such thing. The flurry of emotions that flew around him when he thought about refused to be ignored. Anger, sympathy for the ringleader, but what disgusted him the most was the smug satisfaction. That one small part of him thought the ringleader got exactly what was coming to him, and was only sorry hi didn’t do it. He sighed and put the cup down. As he looked over the crowds in Ten Forward he spotted Scotty and motioned him over.

Scotty walked over to Jaton, "Hi," he said, "How are you holding up?"

Jaton nodded. "Well enough, considering." He gestured to the seat across from him.

Scotty took the seat next to Jaton, adjusting it until he found the right position.

"Coffee?"

"No, thank you, I've had my fill since we got back" Scotty said, "Aldeberan whiskey," he said to the waiter

“I suppose I don’t blame you.” The waiter came back with the whiskey and poured a glass. Jaton gestured to the waiter to bring a second glass and to leave the bottle. In the meantime, he raised his coffee cup.

“Şerefe.”

"You know, growing up, it was always 'every man for themselves'" Scotty said, taking another drink, "In that arena, it felt like was 12 years old again, my instincts took over, I feel like I should be Court Martialed,"

“If you need to be court martialed, I’d be right there next to you. We were all forced to do things down there that we regretted. And I wanted to tell you how sorry I am.”

"Thanks, I'm sorry as well," he said, taking another drink, "I think it'll just take some time to punch through, at least for me,"

“Not much of a puncher myself. I’ve been talking to the counsellor though and that’s helped. But I felt the need to say I’m sorry and that I forgive you face to face. You’re one of my best friends on the Victory, and I want to make sure we’re good going forward.”

"Of course," Scotty said, giving his friend a pat on the back, "I wouldn't have it any other way,"

Jaton smiled. The waiter returned with the shot glass that Jaton had ordered and he poured himself a drink. He refilled Scotty's glass as well and raised his glass.

"To friendship."

"Hear hear," Scotty replied and downed his shot.

Jaton downed the shot and poured another one. "Did you hear what happened to the ringmaster?"

"No, I didn't," Scotty replied, "wasn't he a robot though, or something?"

“Indeed he is. Or was, should I say. He was found this morning in the entryway with his head ripped off. No one is fessing up to it, but popular opinion is it was a member of one of the Klingon crews.”

"That sounds about right," Scotty said, downing another drink, "I'd still love another go a that damned purple monkey,"

"I'll take your word for it. I was in stasis at that point," Jaton said. "I'm just hoping that I'm able to put the whole thing behind me."

"So am I," Scotty said, then spotting a pair of women sitting at the opposite side of the room, "And I think I know how to do just that," He said, pointing at the pair, "You up for a little mingling?"

Jaton smiles and poured himself one last shot. “Eh, why not? I’ve always been a sucker for redheads.”