Know You Better

Posted on Sat Feb 26th, 2022 @ 3:47pm by Commander Liala Ziyal & 1st Lieutenant Kyle Walken

Mission: The Goddess
Location: Brass Falcon Bar & Lounge
2562 words - 5.1 OF Standard Post Measure

It had been a few days but something was sticking in Kyle's head. He promised to share a drink with Commander Ziyal, he figured now was a good time plus it was a good excuse to get to know her. He walks to her office door and buzzes it, hoping to test his luck and see if Liala was here.

Liala had been sitting on her couch reading an old book, nothing fancy just the history on an old war on Earth, World War II. She wanted to know more about the history of the people she worked for, really it was a shock as to how they used to behave.

"Come in." she said as the door bell chimed unusually, but then again she was in her office. Pretty easy to find her as she spent there when she was on-duty but not on bridge duty.

Kyle walks inside, "Commander Ziyal, hope I'm catching you when you are off duty. I was hoping to get that drink with you so we could get to know each other better."

"Well, you caught me Lieutenant." Liala smiled. "I was just doing a bit of reading to pass the time. Be more than happy to get a drink with you if you'd like. We can go to the Brass Falcon if that suits?" she asked.

Conall Hennessy ran it, he was a quirky Irishman. Full of the charm and cheek of that race of people. She had been there a few times with Timia and found it a fun place to have a drink.

"Sounds wonderful, haven't had the chance to go there before," Kyle answers as he waits for Liala to stand. "I won't lie, I'm more than curious to learn more about you Commander."

"He's a rascal, the owner, he calls himself a cheeky chap. I must admit I don't know what a chap is, but he is quite entertaining." Liala replied standing and heading for the door. "I am usually quite an open book Lieutenant." She smiled as they left together and headed to the lounge.

"Chap, old English slang." He answers as they leave. As they walk down the corridor he began to speak again, "Commander I'm curious, what made you join up with Starfleet?"

"Please, call me Liala. We are off duty after all." She smiled softly as she thought of his question.

"I suppose curiosity." Liala said as they walked down the corridors, they would nod and say a silent hello to passing crew as they did so. "When I was a civilian, on Earth in the 2340's, I had my own practice in California. Lovely place, beautiful as far as the eye stretched but still people had their mental health problems, medical conditions that needed seen too. I had a man come to me with something akin to split personality disorders but it was on a temporal scale. With every visit he claimed to be from a different timeframe of Earth, but oddly he still knew where to find me. It seemed his brain attracted chroniton particles that shifted his mind to that of other beings of different times, I ended up calling it Temporal Tinnitus. I worked with Starfleet doctors and scientists to devise a treatment and I suppose my curiosity of Starfleet grew from that. Took me years to have the courage, but I eventually made the change." she said as they approached the turbolift and entered. Liala specified the deck before looking at Kyle. "What about you? What made you join the marines?"

"Well, I guess you could say it was simply expected of me, for generations my family has been in Starfleet in some way even before the Federation the Walken family was part of the military in some way or another." He pauses for a second and thinks about it. "Honestly though, it just feels right. I was born to fight and protect people, some would say it was all I was good for." He laughs softly to himself the turbolift arrived at the specified deck as the pair exited. "Can't say I've done anything as impressive as discovering a condition like Temporal Tinnitus but I'm jarhead, my job is to think of way to protect people and combat those who would do us harm."

"Live long enough and you'll accomplish something." Liala said as they headed for the Brass Falcon. "That's what my grandmother used to say. I have the advantage that I can live for a long time. If I had lived a lifespan of a Human I'd have seen my world destroyed and little else I'd think." she added solemnly. "It is nice though, to follow in family footsteps is nice if it's what you want. Something about honouring a legacy comes to mind."

"As long as I keep people alive, I will take that as my accomplishment. I'm not out to make a name, just do my job." Kyle answers as he took in the atmosphere of the pub. He fell silent as she spoke of her destroyed home. "It is, do you have any family back on Earth?"

"It was the same with me when I took up medicine. Try and help who I could." Liala led them to a table and she sat down signalling a server to come over so they could order. "Not on Earth, no." she admitted. "I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters, all luckily managed to escape and followed us here. My brothers kind of saved me in a way, I was coming back from a concert when the Borg began attacking. We thought we had more time..." she said drifting off a little. "Sadly, my mother did not make it." she finished as the server came over and asked what they would like.

"Sorry to hear about your mother and your world. Death is never a good friend, all it seems to do is take away." He speaks softly looking her in the eyes before turning to the server. "I'll have a whiskey sour." Walken orders as he pauses to let Liala order her drink before speaking again. "I'm glad you were lucky enough to escape what happened."

"Thank you, Kyle." She smiled. "It happened a long time ago now, still have some scars from it. I don't sing as often as I'd like anymore, I was a musician and singer before it all." Liala added as the server turned to her. "Strawberry daquiri please."

"It's never easy to forget something that is super painful," Walken answers quietly, his own memories of losing friends over the years coming to his mind. "I never took you for a musician, but I hope you find your voice again. I'm sure I speak for a lot of people when I say I would love to hear you sing sometime in the future."

"Oh yes, loved it. I sang professionally for years in the Sale Concert Hall on El Auria, played a few instruments too. I think more close to your violin and piano if I was to make a comparison." Liala replied. "But I think I would need a few more months on this ship before I am to open up my voice to the crew. I may look confident of sorts when on duty but to open your soul to people is one of the hardest things in life." she admitted.

"Well if you ever need a pianist when I'm not cracking heads I was classical trained growing up," Kyle adds. "No worries about that people open up at their own speed, besides it gives me something to look forward to in the future."

The server had returned and set both of their drink orders down.

Walken gave a thankful nod to the server before lifting his drink to his lip and enjoying his first whiskey sour of the day, "Nothing like a nice drink after work."

"Really?" Liala asked quite surprised. "I did not imagine you to be a pianist. Sorry, I totally stereotyped you as a hard up marine." she laughed a little softer. "Although I do agree with you on the drink. It is nice to relax and let your hair down once and a while."

"Well to be fair, you are one of three people on this ship that actually know this, it isn't something I show off." Walken nods his head. "My mom thought it would be good if I didn't just focus solely on Judo and the training my old man had me going through. So I also learned to play the piano and it was something I turned out to be rather talented at. If I wasn't so focused on joining the Marines odds are I would have focused on playing." With a slight pause, Walken lifts his drink and takes another swig. "So tell me Liala, what are you looking for out of life right now?"

"Having a little music in your bones is good." Liala replied. "I like to think it shows how creative you can be, and in this job you certainly need that skill." she added taking a sip of her daiquiri as Kyle asked her a rather open question. "I am not sure. Right now I am focussing on learning how to be a good First Officer, it is my first time and I often fall back into my counsellors way of thinking when I should be looking at a greater picture. We El Aurians play a long game and we do not rush into much." Liala admitted. "What about you? You are a new and sparkly officer now." she grinned.

"I mean that is life, adapting to what it gives you and learning from it. So nothing wrong with seeing it from the point of view of a counselor." Walken answers. "But with that it's good you are trying to expand your command style." He pauses and thinks for a moment to answer her question. "Right now I'm adjusting from leading a squad to leading the whole battalion. Whole different beast now."

"Very true." Liala admitted as she sipped her drink a little, the coldness of it almost making the dreaded brain freeze moment happen. "I understand the transition from being an leader within the enlisted ranks to one of officer rank can be difficult for some. You've went from being in charge of a small number to a greater responsibility to the whole department. I can relate." she said waving her hands as if gesturing to the whole ship. "I think you'll be great though. You have a very calm, professional way about you." she smiled.

Kyle chuckles to himself slightly, "You wouldn't be saying that if you saw me when I was a POW of the Gorn. Lost a ship, lost my detachment of marines, nearly lost everyone." He lifts the drink but sets it back down. "But, they couldn't break me. I don't know if it was whatever training I had beaten into me over the years or if it was my own stubbornness but they never got the satisfaction of breaking me."

Liala scoffed lightly. "Well I'd say you were under a little duress as a prisoner, so your professionalism is allowed to falter slightly under those circumstances." she said honestly. "I am sorry for what you lost, losing a ship and your people is a hard thing to survive. They tell you it gets easier over the years, but it doesn't. Sometimes the guilt of forgetting for a moment lingers."

"It's sad to say but I learned the lesson when I lost my best friend six years ago." He pauses for a moment before correcting himself, "Friend isn't the right word. Kealoha was a brother to me, after he was killed not a day passed where I don't wonder what things would be like if he would still be here. Took me around a year to notice how unhealthy that mindset is, so now I choose to honor his memory instead of drowning in it." Walken finishes off his drink before making eye contact with the Commander. "Sorry didn't mean to turn this into kind of a downer talk."

"It is not 'downer' talk as you call it, Kyle. I am used to people opening up to me and it is nice that you feel comfortable enough to share things like that. Everyone has their own stories that have changed them, made them look at themselves and it takes a lot to see yourself and change. You should never feel sorry for being able to open up. Men of your species find it a lot harder than most to do so, so I am happy that you can." Liala said with a warm smile.

Walken returns the smile, "Guess you could say it's the classic stubbornness of humans. I'm just stubborn when it comes to other things, emotions never needed to hide them." Kyle sighs quietly before looking over to the server once eye contact was made, he signals for another round. "Would you like another one Liala?"

"Classic stubbornness would be right. Captain Hawkins can be just as bad for other reasons." She sighed a little. "Sure, aside from chocolate, fruity drinks are a favourite of mine."

"I guess you could say it's a very common Human trait or at least a Marine trait, but we tend to pick up on the subtle things as well. Hawkins I'm sure has his own reason for his stubbornness but that also depends on how he is being stubborn and why? But before that let's see if I'm still a good bartender and can match a drink to you." Walken tilts his head before standing up and making his way to the server, "Aside for another Whiskey Sour for me, could I get a Mudslide for the Commander?"

"Very common male trait." Liala teased, even though she knew women were just as good at it, if not more subtle in how they display it. "I have no idea what a Mudslide is?" she questioned, unsure if matching a marine drink for drink was wise. "But alright, I am sure you would never lead me down a dark path." she almost believed.

It took a little bit but Walken returned carrying his whiskey in his right hand, from his left he sat down the mudslide. The glass matches his in size chocolate syrup swirls around the glass. "Classic mudslide, Earth drink. Chocolate syrup first a few rings along the glass. Follow that with a dash of Vodka and the main ingredient baileys original Irish cream."

"That sounds like it could be my new favourite drink... chocolate is, well one of the best things ever." Liala's eyes lit up at the sight of so much cream and chocolate in one glass. "Pass me the glass." she grinned.

With that Walken slides the glass across the table carefully. "Well, now I've done my job right." Kyle smiled as he lifted his glass. "Just be careful, I'm sure you don't want to go drink for drink with a marine. Never ends well for you Navy types." he joked.

"Marines don't hold the mantle for being the best drinkers." Liala winked. "I've been known to be able to handle a good few drinks." she added. Famous last words though she thought as the competition began... she thanked the Gods she was off tomorrow.