TBC

Posted on Mon Sep 7th, 2020 @ 11:08pm by Lieutenant Avery Paxton III & Lieutenant Scott Hayes
Edited on on Mon Sep 7th, 2020 @ 11:09pm

Mission: Once Upon A Time on Risa.
Location: Enroute to Risa

ON:

It had been several days since Scott had finished up his last, but quick posting before a new opportunity had presented itself: transfer to a marine detachment. It was fresh, different and offered a continued challenge that he was always looking for to perfect and refine his medical skills; he would still jump at such a chance and change. While he loved his last posting, Scott was never one to say no to a man in uniform.

Over the previous few days he had spent in the company of a blossoming friendship of the Chief Engineer of the ship he was in, their relationship started a little rocky but he had a feeling things would start to smooth out, that was, until he accepted this transfer. Scott never really would get to give her all the details about the barman she set him up with. Such is the nature of starfleet he supposed.

Looking at his new orders again, he couldn't believe it, he had been assigned to the USS Sunfire which was on shore leave at Risa. Scott had never been to Risa and was overly excited at the prospect. Packing up what little belongings he had, his guitar, he found himself a flattering white and blue Hawaiian style shirt, shorts, flip flops before heading to the shuttle bay.

Avery had just arrived on the USS Sunfire the day before, after accepting an offer to transfer. Although she was excited, there was a little bit of disappointment over leaving behind the few friends she had just started to get to know, especially Scott. He was stubborn and a tough negotiator, but he had a fun streak and she respected the hell out of him.

Earlier that morning she had introduced herself to the CEO and it had proved to be an interesting experience. He was a little rough around the edges, but she read up on Tellarites when she got back to her quarters and realized that's just a standard Tellarite personality trait. All in all, she had the impression that they would end up working together well.

Throwing herself on the couch, she picked up a PADD and started to scroll through the new ship’s manifest. The Sunfire was taking shore leave at Risa, but she didn’t feel like going out without a friend so she figured she might as well familiarize herself with the new crew. Her jaw dropped as a familiar name popped up, Scott Hayes. No way, she thought. She quickly looked up his itinerary and found that he was scheduled to check out a shuttle in one hour. The destination was listed as Risa.

Avery threw the PADD down and put on some shorts, her favorite t-shirt, and sandals. Then grabbed her beach clothes, swimsuits and sunglasses and tossed them haphazardly into a duffle before making her way to the shuttle bay. Scott won’t mind a surprise road trip buddy, right?

After a short walk she arrived in the shuttlebay and signed out the shuttle that Scott was supposed to take to the surface, the Exodus. Avery took over the pilot’s spot since she was certified to fly, but left Scott’s name on the passenger list, and then sat in the shuttle and waited for him to show up.

Scott would not be his usual, punctual self. He got lost. The sudden change of path meant he couldn't do his usual prep of learning basic ship layout. Having only arrived earlier that day, throwing his things down didn't help much either. When he eventually got to the shuttle bay, a slight bead of sweat was trickling down his forehead.

As he turned the corner, round the back of the shuttle towards the ramp, his jaw hit the floor. "How in the..." he let his voice trail out as he saw the face of an old/new friend.

"Oh, fancy finding you here," Avery said with a smirk, enjoying the look of complete surprise on Scott's face. "Hope you don't mind some extra company on your 'road trip' to Risa."

"I mean...sure," Scott began stunned, "but...but, how? And please don't tell me your continued medical care is going to be a pain in my side. Even though I'm technically not the ship's doctor." Scott was stunned and rambling, all the while doing up some of the loose buttons on his shirt. Because even for him, they were a little too low to be around people he knew. "It is good to see you though and have a friendly face here. When did you get here?" he continued his stunned rapid-fire questioning.

Avery chuckled as Scott tried to recover from the surprise. “I got here late yesterday. I heard that the Sunfire had an opening and put in a request for a transfer. Akira class ships are fun, and it came with the added bonus of getting away from Sito.” Avery explained.

“About an hour ago I decided to review the ship’s manifest and you can imagine my surprise when I ran across your name having transferred to the same ship. Your itinerary showed that you were checking out a shuttle soon and you still owe me details on your night with Ehtri so I jumped on the opportunity to commandeer your ship.”

“As for medical care, when have I ever been a pain in your side?” She asked sarcastically, knowing that the rocky start to their relationship was mostly due to her being a pain in the ass in sickbay on the Wayfarer. “I’ve been told that I can come to you for medical since we served our last posting together. However, if you’d prefer I can choose to report to the ship’s CMO instead. Maybe if I go to her then I can get away with working more, resting less and never showing up for follow ups without the threat of security coming to get me. Plus I made a promise to you to be less difficult, whereas I’ve made no such promises to the ship’s CMO. It’s up to you.” Avery said with a shrug and a slight smile. Truth be told she had no idea what the ship’s CMO was like, she could’ve been easier or harder to deal with than Scott. However, Avery hated doctors and rarely trusted anyone, but Scott had grown on her as they had become friends and she felt more comfortable under his care than anyone else’s.

"You really want me to answer that?" Scott chuckled, "I will be doing the CMO here a favour before I've even met them by taking you off their hands." He joked, but deep down was sincere, it would be nice to have a friend here and he really didn't want to subject anyone else to Avery's... interesting approach to her medical care.

"I take it you are joining me on Risa then?" he asked, giving her the once over. "Do I need to warn them ahead of time?” Once more he chuckled thinking about all the possibilities that lay ahead, he had never been to Risa before, so was unsure of what to expect. "I'm glad someone is here though to pilot this thing, give me my medical equipment any day over all of this," he waved his hand in front of the console as he stowed his gear and sat down in the co-pilot seat. At least, what he assumed was a co-pilot seat.

“Of course I’m joining you. Who else is going to help you scope out all of the hot guys on Risa?” Avery laughed as she input her flight plan and then pressed the communications button to get clearance to takeoff.

“Sunfire ground, Shuttle Exodus requesting taxi for departure”

“Exodus, taxi to run-up area bravo”

“Taxi to run-up bravo, Exodus”

Avery moved the shuttle from their parking spot to the run-up area facing the shuttle bay doors. She ran a quick pre-flight checklist and then contacted the tower.

“Sunfire tower, Exodus, holding short on bravo, ready for departure”

“Exodus, cleared for departure. Have a nice time on Risa”

“Cleared for departure, Exodus. Thanks!”

Avery hit the thruster and they left the shuttlebay. She quickly turned on autopilot after being released for a direct flight path to Risa, then leaned back and looked at Scott. “Sooo, how was your night with Ehtri?” She asked.

"Well, it was as you would expect," Scott began, smiling, "Doctor meets barman, they talk, flirt, have a good evening and hope their paths one day cross again. Such is the nature of Starfleet and I'm guessing being a barman is also." He had a look over all of the controls, trying to make sense of them as he reflected back on the first date he had had in quite some time. "So, what about you? How have you been since we parted ways?"

"Well I'm glad you guys had a good night." Avery smiled. "I've been great! The USS Constitution recently implemented some interesting tweaks to their engines that have produced fascinating results so I've been soaking up all of the reports on that. I have lots of ideas that should make for a fun time." She could've rambled for hours about engineering, but quickly decided that it wouldn't make for the best road trip conversation. "So, where are we staying when we get to Risa?" Having just thrown a suitcase together Avery hadn't made any plans or reservations other than commandeering Scott's shuttle so she hoped when they arrived she'd still be able to book a room.

‘I got told the name of a resort where all the crew seem to be staying, I can't quite remember the name of it just now, but it made sense to go there. Maybe get acquainted in a less than formal setting before heading to the ship. Maybe actually help me relax those rules on being a doctor and actually making friends," he gave a knowing nod to Avery. "As for what we could do, I have no ideas. I've never been to Risa before," his look turned sheepish to the admission as if waiting to be berated for this.

Avery looked at Scott in astonishment. "... You've…Never…Been...To….Risa….?! Lucky for you I've been a few times, so we'll make it a trip to remember! Do you want to do adventurous stuff, relaxing stuff or a mixture of both? There's rock climbing, rafting, surfing, skydiving, or relaxing at the pool or on the beach. Then of course at night there's the clubs, which are sure to be filled with attractive bartenders and guests." She said with a chuckle.

"I have a feeling you are more the adventurous kind," he raised an eyebrow and allowed a smirk to creep across his face. "As for me, get me a spot by the pool, a few good books and a constant stream of frozen cocktails. Add in a few nice dinners, possibly a massage or two and maybe a club night. That's a holiday for me." Scott started looking around to check to see if he had his medical kit, just in case.

"Did you leave something?" She asked, noticing Scott looking around like he'd forgotten something. "You should really try rock climbing, it's a great workout and I know you like to workout."

"And that is the reason I am looking to see if I packed my medical kit," Scott smirked, "You and I have very different outlooks on relaxing."

Avery typed in the landing sequence as they entered controlled airspace and then contacted the tower to get a landing clearance. A few minutes later, they touched down on Risa.

“I’m going to see if I can snag a room and unpack. Meet you by the pool in an hour?” she asked. “Maybe we can find some of the other Sunfire crew and introduce ourselves.”

"Last one there gets the drinks in," Scott said looking out the window like a child excited on his first trip, "and mine is whatever carries the most alcohol while being frozen, with one of those little drinking umbrellas."

"Deal," she said as they exited the shuttle.

:OFF: