Gym-innay cricket.

Posted on Mon Sep 30th, 2024 @ 1:42pm by Commander Shr'Nesh Karadis & Lieutenant Drevas
Edited on on Mon Sep 30th, 2024 @ 11:37pm

2,626 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: The 'Eagle continues.
Location: Gymnasium
Timeline: Current.

Drevas had been quite surprised when, barely minutes after the meeting, he received a private message from the blond Klingon officer he'd seen at the meeting. As far as he could interpret from her message, she wanted to meet up and talk intelligence regarding their next mission - though why she'd chosen to do it at the ship's gymnasium of all places was certainly a bit strange. Yes, she was a Klingon and likely spent a pretty good amount of time there already, but talking work there too? Odd.

Nonetheless, Drevas had decided to put aside his thoughts on the matter and go anyway - after all a meeting with her, no matter what the setting, would be beneficial to them both, wouldn't it? It would be good to pick her brain (and probably her his, too) on the matter, which would help everyone involved. So he'd come anyway, and waited outside at the entrance for her. He couldn't see her inside, so maybe she'd simply not arrived yet.

Striding down the corridor towards the gym, Karadis saw the Kelpien officer standing outside waiting. He was tall, well, lanky as most of his species were, well proportioned though. As she walked past him, she didn't look at Drevas as she said, "Afraid to go inside are we, not a great look for someone who's meant to be Chief of Security..." and walked into the gym.

"I thought it common courtesy to wait for you," Drevas answered as he followed her into the gymnasium. And here he thought she might appreciate that - well, maybe she did, and was just messing with him. Testing his resolve, perhaps. The two made for a pretty strange pair, walking to the changing rooms. A sparing few crew seemed a little afraid, almost, as they separated to change out of uniform. Did they think the two were going to destroy the gym with whatever they were going to do, perhaps?

"That's a first, a common courtesy..." Karadis mused, as the door to the changing rooms opened, allowing them inside.

Either way, Drevas chose to expect nothing as he emerged from the changing rooms in a dry-fit t-shirt and a pair of shorts. Maybe Shr'nesh did want to test him - see if he was fit for the role he was currently appointed to, or something like that. Maybe she wanted to share more information about the mission with him, in which case it could only benefit them both. Or maybe she'd heard of the feats of strength and speed his people were known for, and wanted to see him do it. No matter what, though, Drevas decided that it was best that he keep his mind open.

In her midriff crop vest, shorts and training boots, Karadis posed in front of the full length mirror, flexing her muscles as she began her warm up routine. A glance to the side gave her a look at the young man who was staring at her open mouthed.

"Can I help you?" she asked him.

"N...nnn...nnno...sorry, I...I..." he stuttered.

"Wondered how you could sweet talk me into bed, or ask me to go for a moonlight stroll on the holodeck?" Karadis continued.

"Well...I...that is to say...if..." the young man mumbled.

"SCRAM, NOW!" Karadis shouted at him.

The young man couldn't gather his things together quickly enough as he stumbled and tripped his way towards the gym exit, glancing back now and again.

Karadis watched him go, laughed, then turned back to Drevas. "So, you're the COS then, what's your story, how did you end up on this shit tip posting?"

Drevas witnessed the exchange, a rather violent one, he thought, coolly. Shr'nesh looked good (very good, actually, he had to admit to himself), but staring from someone else with that kind of facial expression was certainly uncalled for in any situation. Without missing a beat he started his warmup routine next to her, less intensive but enough to get his body to warm up at least.

"I was given this assignment. I did not choose to come here." He replied coolly, glancing over as he did. "Though I would rather not assign a label to the nature of this appointment just yet. I haven't been aboard for very long, nor have we seen action. I would prefer to make another, fairer assessment when we have."

"Regardless. I believe that every assignment has something to take away from it, if one takes the time to reflect."

"Oh, with the Captain you've got, believe me, action won't be long in being here" Karadis replied, "he has a...knack...for it finding him even when he's not looking for it. He's not a bad person, well, when I say that, I mean in himself as the CO he's not a bad person, he knows what he's doing in the big chair...mostly. As an individual, he's a lunatic, but with the best of intentions. I can safely say that when the time comes for you to take something away from this assignment, he'll be a foot note in there somewhere."

She walked over to dumb bells and chose a mid range set and holding them at shoulder level, began doing squats. As she did,she looked at Drevas, "If you require any help with what the Captain's asked you to find out about this A'axxa, let me know."

Drevas chose to use one of the treadmills nearby. What does a species that can run at speeds to rival some older civilian use shuttles need with that? Who knows, man.

"Your assistance would be very much appreciated, in fact." He said. Okay, then. She likely wasn't here to tell him anything about the assignment if he didn't ask. She probably wasn't here to test him on his ability to react to spontaneous situations by attacking him mid-set either. Why then had she been the one to initiate this meeting, he wondered. He started off at an easy pace - for him, that is, easily one and a half times as fast as a normal human's jogging speed. "I would be glad to have your expertise in information gathering - especially with regards to some of the more sensitive information I've been asked to find..."

Karadis nodded, but didn't say anything at that point, just kept her squats going. After a minute or so, she stopped and looked at Drevas, "I take it you've never seen action onboard a Starship Lieutenant, is that correct?"

"I have, in fact, served two tours of duty aboard starships as a tactical officer, and seen my fair share of action both on and off ship." Drevas corrected her. He turned up the treadmill now, upping his pace to a sort of slow jog. "Of varying kinds. Boardings, hostile natives equipped with energy weaponry, saboteurs..." He decided not to elaborate further on that last one. The Billingsworth had had its own handful of weird happenings in its time. "Why do you ask?"

"Seeing action has many connotations Lieutenant, be specific, baring in mind I've read your service record" Karadis answered. "When I asked the question, you chose to withhold what you've actually done. My arse has seen boardings and hostile natives with energy weapons and my left nostril has had run ins with saboteurs...elaborate, and I'll know if you're lying."

So she wanted to pick his brain. See his thought process. Interesting. Seeing as he couldn't really hide much from her, though, Drevas decided to simply share what he had on mind, walking her through a couple of his old exploits as a junior officer before arriving on board. He changed from the treadmill to the dumbbells meanwhile, over the course of fifteen minutes. By the time he was done, he'd placed twenty kilograms on either side of the bar - only for a start, of course. He'd been ramping up.

"...would you like to know anything else?" He asked candidly as he put the barbell back on the brackets.

"Yes..." Karadis answered, "From what you heard at the briefing, what's your take on our mission?"

"My interpretation of the scope of our mission is that we are to seek out and bring into custody this Romulan flag officer. A'axxa, that was his name. That is why I was asked to look for relatives and colleagues, all of whom might have a chance of knowing who he is," Drevas explained coolly. "Captain Finchley knows how secretive Romulans can be, of course, hence the wide range of individuals he asked me to find information on. Once we have found him, I believe the captain would like to question him as to the breakaway faction he is apparently associated with."

"Kerr" Karadis corrected him, "It's Captain Kerr, and yes, I know what he asked you to find out in regards to General A'axxa, I was thinking more of the mission as a whole. You see, I have no time for the Romulans, to me they're underhanded. You have no idea what it took to get them involved in the Dominion War, even when it came to their doorstep. I'll admit, that without them, the outcome could have been different, we may have lost, but even when they joined the Federation alliance, they held back. Have you had dealings with the Romulans, if so, what's your take on them?"

"Thus far? No. Not yet. Though they do appear very often indeed in Starfleet training manuals and case studies - from which I gather that they are... secretive. Put lightly. I predict that, at the very least, finding what I've been asked to find will be challenging." Challenging, in fact, probably didn't even cover the difficulty of the task he'd been given. Somehow Drevas predicted that finding out the information he'd need would be very much harder than merely searching the ship's computer. "Which is why I would like your assistance..."

"And what will you do for me in return for 'said' assistance?" Karadis asked, curious as how Drevas would react.

"A favor for a favor. Something reasonable, of your choosing." Drevas replies coolly.

"Define reasonable" Karadis replied, equally as coolly.

"Something that'll land neither of us in trouble - I know. I'll make you dinner. Though I may have trouble sourcing the ingredients if Klingon cuisine is what you want," Getting to know her on a personal level couldn't hurt, he reckoned, especially over dinner. Drevas stepped off the treadmill and walked over to the weights corner. "My aunt taught me to cook, and insisted that I continue to learn even as I enlisted. I am no professional chef, but I've had plenty of practice, at least."

"I can accept you cooking me dinner, and I'm flexible about what you wish to cook, it doesn't have to be a Klingon dish" Karadis replied, "tell me, do you cook in the nude?"

"No, I do not." Drevas gave her a hard look in the eye. Where was she driving at with this, he wondered. Did she seriously want him to cook in the nude? There were about a hundred reasons why that was a really, really bad idea - though he didn't want to assume immediately that she had ill intentions by it.

Or maybe... no, no, no. Couldn't be. He pushed the thought out of his head immediately.

Whatever the case, he knew that Klingons favored standing your ground and fighting for something, and so he decided to stay where he was - so to speak.

"That's a real shame" Karadis replied, stretching over to reach her towel that was on the floor, her t-shirt billowing out at the neckline, revealing a glimpse of her bare chest below, "I had a surprise for you if you did..." she added, straightening up again, slowly wiping the sweat from her neck.

A tingle instantly raced down Drevas' spine. Ah, yes. That kind of surprise. So there had been that sort of intention behind the question. He felt heat rise to his cheeks as he caught a glimpse of her bare chest - it was brief, but it was enough to stick the image pretty solidly in his mind. Whether she was doing it on purpose or not, he did not know, but gosh, was it distracting.

"Well. I'd prefer not to burn myself with hot oil or water while cooking. It'd do neither of us good for me to go to sickbay with my hand burned and unusable - and I'm sure you'd not appreciate it if that were to happen." Drevas replied coolly. "For one I'd be unable to make you dinner as promised, and for another I'd be typing with just one hand when it comes to work. And we both agree that isn't optimal, yes? I would hate to be unable to fulfill my promise."

Drevas shifted his weight, trying hard to not pay too much mind to the slight stiffness around his lower half. "I would like to get to know you better through dinner. I'm sure it'd be more than possible to walk through the night, so to speak, and see where it leads us, either way."

Karadis picked up her nearby gym bag, reached inside and took out a PADD. After a few moments she began speaking softly to herself, "...not adventurous...".

Closing off what she had written, she placed the PADD back in her bag. "Well Lieutenant, it looks like we're done here, I've got what I need to begin working on the assessment we'll be putting together for the Captain. I'm going to hit the shower."

It was right about then that Drevas realized exactly how sticky he was - no, seriously, he could feel his shirt sticking to his upper half. "I could use a shower myself. I suppose I'll meet you back outside, then." Drevas trotted off to the shower behind her and cleaned himself off - all in all, he was done in about less than five minutes. He settled down outside the showers, pulling on a clean pair of pants before turning to take his shirt out of the bag he'd brought...

Karadis exited her shower, but stayed in the cubicle to towel herself down and get dressed. walking out, she saw that Drevas was also showered and was half dressed, reaching down into his bag to take something out. As he had his back to her, and was slightly bent over, she began walking towards him and as she passed she allowed her nails to 'accidently' lightly claw across his rear end. She didn't say anything, give any kind of apology for the 'accidental' touch, just kept going, exiting the gym.

Drevas stiffened instantly, feeling someone's nails rake across his rear. A quick look behind him showed only the Klingon intelligence officer exiting the showers without so much as a goodbye. Really, now? Was she really going to play this game with him? He pulled his shirt on and trailed after her, shouldering his gym bag as he went.

"Let me know when you're available for dinner, then. I promise you'll get my best." Drevas quipped as he caught up to her.

"I'm off duty at nineteen hundred hours, so, say twenty hundred hours for dinner" Karadis replied as they walked. With a curt glance to the side, she added, "You better give me your best, otherwise there could be...consequences. Oh, and it's a shame about not cooking in the nude, just imagine where you could sample the delights...of the dinner I mean."

She winked as they reached a corridor junction and she turned off and walked towards the turbolift.

 

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