Laying Down a Mutual Friendship

Posted on Sat Jul 6th, 2024 @ 10:18pm by Commander Jenna Ramthorne & Remal Kajun & Patin

Mission: Lost in Space
Location: USS Sunfire - Deep Deep Space
Timeline: Current-ish

Antsy. Between space whales and deep space probes and simply searching for a potential eddy that would carry them home, Jenna's shift had ended and she was antsy. It was a whole lot of nothing, the excitement of exploring a new area of space long faded. She nodded to Savar as she handed over the reigns of the ship and then to the PC or Pilot in Control who was to replace her before leaving the bridge.

"Main lounge." She instructed the computer within the lift before being whisked away. Moments later she entered the main lounge, similar to 10-Forward on the Enterprise but a bit more utilitarian. Immediately she spotted the bar, moved over and tapped the counter. "Surprise me." She indicated.

As she waited she turned and looked around the room for anyone familiar. A strange smell wafted across her nose and it took her only a moment to find the source. In a far corner, near one of the larger windows, she spotted Remal sitting at a table with a woman Jenna had yet to meet. This particular woman was wearing civilian clothing and smoking what appeared to be a thin cigar.

Jenna smirked as the smell struck her sinuses again. As the bar keep handed Jenna her drink, she made the decision to act. A swift push off from the bar and across the room she walked until she was standing right next to the table, an ominous presence. "Excuse me miss, it is preferred, for the benefit of all, that you keep your habits to your personal quarters."

Remal looked up, his eyes falling on his friend, then darting to Patin who showed no sign of giving a shit. "Yeah? And what's it to you?" Patin took a deep hit off the cigar before letting it out in Jenna's direction. "We're having a private conversation which for the benefit of us, doesn't concern you."

Remal was invested as his eyes darted from Patin now up to Jenna for her response. "Everything on this ship concerns me, in this situation in particular, the health of me friend concerns me dearly." She nodded in Remal's direction which he nodded back, but Patin paid no attention to.

Instead Patin took one last deep drag, then presented her hand and pressed the hot tip of the cigar into her hand before letting the puff out again in Jenna's direction. She then took her feet off the fourth chair, pushed back from the table and stood to face Jenna. There were roughly the same height with Jenna looking taller, more stout, and clearly not impressed.

Remal, sensing the potential tension between the two decided now was a good time to intervene. He stood, Patin, I'd like to introduce a good friend of Rhens, Commander Jenna Ramthorne." He gestured to Jenna. "And Jenna, this is Patin, former resistance fighter and explosive expert, and of course also a friend of Rhens." He gestured at Patin. "Now if you two do not mind, I'd rather not have to file a disruption of the peace report today, thank you."

Jenna, still looking at Patin, smiled broadly, cocked her head slightly "Well, any friend of Rhenora's is a friend of mine." She pulled out the extra chair and sat Riker style, leg over the back, into the chair.

Patin, now the only one left standing returned the favor, "Likewise." And then she too sat down, returning her feet to the remaining chair as she lounged back without a care.

Remal, sensing an open opportunity to ease tension, signalled to the barkeep and then addressed the ladies. "Jenna, Patin, you too have a lot more in common than you are aware. Rhenora chooses her friends with care you know. Not everyone finds that right spot and both of you have something, or in Rhen's case, shared some experiences that have made you both more than just friends. 'WE' consider you as family."

The tender walked up carrying tray with a selection of drinks in the form of double shots. Remal gestured to have them sat upon the table. Jenna eyed Remal with curiosity, "Did you set this up ahead of time or were you and she prepared to drink the whole lot?"

He was about to speak when Patin grabbed one and threw it back, then replied, "They are all mine unless you think you could drink me under the table." She then sat the double-shot upside down and slid it towards Jenna as a motion of challenge.

Jenna smirked and eyed her opponent. She hadn't come to get sloshed, but if Patin was challenging her, she sensed a chance to prove her metal as a kindred spirit. Patin didn't know that Jenna was genetically enhanced or rather made in a lab from the DNA of a Eugenics Super Soldier and could likely not get drunk, though she'd never tried. "You're on." She picked up the first glass and downed it without wincing. "I was there when we crashed the Sunfire D on Canis III." She added as a way to taught her opponent. "At the helm actually if memory serves."

Not to be outdone, Patin followed with one of her own. "I was there when we crash this ship on that Dino-planet." She threw back and placed the small glass upon the table. "Was partially responsible for the explosion that caused it. Not only got to kill the beasties but got to ride them too." She smirked.

"Impressive, can't say that I've ever met or ridden a dinosaur, touché." She picked up her second glass, paused, eyed Remal then back to Patin, "I was there when Drakkar Province went up in flames." Then she threw it back and felt the burn easing up.

Remal quickly calculated Jenna's attack strategy. "Hey, you leave me out of this. I am a casual, uninvolved, observer." He chuckled as he leaned back and watched the drunken boxing match.

Patin never allowed her eyes to wander, her mind calculating a lot slower than her companions. "I was there when the Cardies ignited the flames in Drakkar province. I fanned those flames and watched it burn from the trenches." Her right eye twitched a bit just before she threw back her third.

Jenna noted Patin was playing hardball and wondered what it would take to break through her hard outer shell in order to get to whatever nougaty center lay within. Did she dare pull her trump card early? She wondered as she picked up her third and hesitated, "Once those fires were out, I was there when Rhenora met Remal, Aaaand I was there when they joined in marriage. In fact I was her bridesmaid." She downed the shot before adding. "Funny, I don't recall you being there."

Remal shifted in his seat, instantly uncomfortable. Patin's jaw clenched and her posture stiffened. This had struck a chord as Patin had missed the ceremonies but would have been there if she could have. Unfortunately, her recluse nature made her difficult to contact in the worst of situations.

She pondered for a moment before picking up her fourth and tossed it back, the alcohol already making her face flush. "Nozzie and I were sisters in arms. Raised together in the resistance. We fought together, bled together. We practically raised one another and," she paused for a moment as she briefly recalled the vision the prophets had instilled in her brain. "I will die for her." She then picked up a fifth and tossed it back too.

Jenna and Remal both took note of the fact she said will and not would as if there was something Patin knew that they did not. Was it possible she slurred her words and it was a simple mistake or was it the alcohol talking? Neither of them knew, how could they. This revelation put Jenna 2 drinks, 4 shots behind and she was weighing her option to bow out versus press on. She could see Patin was a fighter and would not value a quitter. She would have to endure.

Bringing her tone back down from all of the fantastical journeys they had shared, Jenna was going to turn a somber note by mentioning the planet they suffered incarceration on. One in which she still bore the scars upon her back, when she noticed a tear streaming down Patin's face. She shifted, "Patin, we would all die for the Captain, for Rhenora, should the situation arise. But you appear a woman who knows something we don't."

Patin stifled back her tear, quickly wiping it away. "I don't know what you numpties are on about. Eye was waterin' that's all." She pointed at the remaining drinks, "So, you forfeit then?"

Glancing at Remal who offered only a shrug and little in the way of advice, Jenna pushed back, "I took lashes on an incarceration planet while pregnant." She picked up her next drink, but it never made it into her mouth. The reaction was quick, quicker than Jenna's senses could compensate for. Patin had grabbed the tray and flipped it into Jenna's direction spilling the remaining drinks, glasses, and all.

But it didn't stop there. With a guttural yell, Patin launched herself over the table into Jenna's direction, her hands haphazardly at Jenna's throat. Her chair gave way and the three of them, Patin, Jenna, and chair toppled backward to the floor. This was enough commotion for the barkeep to signal security.

Patin, now obviously drunk, was still flying on instinct and unleashing punch after punch in Jenna's direction. Jenna, not really in a position to control the situation blocked what she could, her own buzz dulling her senses and her reaction time. Within moments the doors to the lounge opened, a security team flanking from both sides.

They were a bit late, however, as Remal had stepped up and into the fray, pulling Patin off of Jenna and holding her at arms reach. She was calmer now, having spent much of her energy and though she was trying to hide it, tears were leaking from her eyes.

"Sir, do you want us to hold Ms. Patin in the brig overnight?" They asked Remal who was the clear-headed one, obviously.

"I think there will be no need for that." He eyeballed Jenna, "Are you good?"

"Yeah, yeah, why do you ask?" She replied.

"Because your fists are still clenched and I could use a hand getting her back to our quarters."

Jenna paused to realize he was right. She had still been in fight mode, ready to strike back or defend if necessary. Her head was swimming, the fight had increased her adrenaline which was now coming back down and with it the effects of the alcohol. She relaxed, "Yeah, I can do that." Remal took Patin under the arm and Jenna the other which Patin allowed to happen. Between the tree of them, they made the silent journey back to the Captain's quarters.

TBC