"It's a bitch convincing people to like you."

[vulcancommander]

Who: Spock, {open}
Where: Space Station mess hall
What: Even First Officers need om noms. Joining him, y/y

Comments

[charliemathers]

Charlie, being new, was still getting used to the layout of the ship, which was endlessly important in her line of work since she was the one that had to be able to get to places quickly otherwise some epic might break out. She was the girl with the phaser after all. Security was pretty quick moving when it came to how the job worked. Unless there's nothing going on, she reminded herself. This was a peaceful group of people, supposedly. The action could get stale. God, I'm going to hate being indoors.

She was wandering around the mess hall, looking for an open table after getting what the computer told her was supposed to be steak, but she was unconvinced. It didn't even smell like steak. She screwed up her nose until she came to a fairly empty table minus one man - Vulcan actually - and sat down without asking. She looked up at him a second later and raised her eyebrows. "Oh, do you mind if I sit here..." she noted his sleeves. Crap... "Uh, Commander?"

[vulcancommander]

Spock was picking out and naming specific stars in his view, and barely registered the sound of footsteps in his general direction. He was naming them in his mind, not wanting to disturb the rest of the mess hall, or sound crazy, with his own murmurings, until a voice addressed him. Had he fully connected with his Human side, he might've been startled out of his own thoughts. But he he turned his head, looking indifferently to the woman sitting at his table with a tray in her hands. She hadn't even asked permission.

There was a part of him that wanted to ask if Starfleet had lowered etiquette standards since the Enterprise had left on her five year mission. Instead of full-out reprimanding her, Spock glanced for a rank and cut a slice of fruit. "I do not, but in the future please ask before you assume my answer would be positive, Ensign." The Eyebrow rose a little on his forehead before he put a slice of the fruit into his mouth.

[charliemathers]

She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow. I hate that title so much. Charlie, being typical Charlie, hated being looked down on even if her rank called for it. She was hoping that this whole Starfleet thing wasn't a bad choice since she so badly wanted to get away for a while, but Vegas was looking more and more like home from this far away. She eyed him, keeping her look respectful, but not looking like she can be pushed around. Someone really needed to teach the girl to learn to back down.

"It's Charlie. Charlie Mathers," she responded, "Sorry, wasn't intentional. I'm new and disappointed in the substance they are calling steak." She was trying to remain lighthearted because the least she could do was not come across like an idiot, but she probably was going to one way or another. Again, she kind of didn't care at all, she should, but she didn't. "You are Commander Spock, right?" she asked, taking her first bite and forcing it down.

[vulcancommander]

Had he known her thoughts, Spock would've said he wasn't looking down her per say, just stating the rank as something to address her by. Since he hadn't known her name, or anything else she might've responded to that didn't sound rude, he had defaulted to her rank out of habit.

The look on her face though - the pursed lips, the raised eyebrow matching his own - told him enough that she didn't like the way he addressed her. Then she told him her name and he recalled seeing it on the list of new arrivals from the station. A couple of last-minute replacements that the station and Risa didn't have for them at the time.

"I recall your name on the list. You prefer the name 'Charlie' over your given name of 'Charlotte' I presume?" He asked, slicing a few more chunks of his fruit.

[missgaila]

Gaila had relished every second since stepping foot on the space station, enjoying the peace and quiet shore leave always brought her way. Spending quality time with Alyson and her wide assortment of friends in the various rec rooms and bars, finishing her book, shopping a bit. Just the kind of relaxation she desperately needed

[vulcancommander]

'Dakh pthak. Nam-tor ri ret na'fan-kitok fa tu dakh pthak.
Ma etek natyan - teretuhr lau etek shetau weh-lo'uk do tum t'on.**'

He was brought of his thoughts, thoughts of the teachings of Surak, when he realized someone was approaching the table he was occupying. It was Miss Gaila, standing there, looking pretty well since he had seen her back in the labs. He could recall the smoke, fire, explosions...how they had both been trapped and in danger in that computer lab..

They were both safe and out of danger now, relaxing on the station. That was what mattered at this point. Spock blinked out of his thoughts completely and straightened up a bit before shaking his head.

"It is not. You are welcome to the usage of it if you wish, Miss Gaila."

**[ooc: The Vulcan up there is Surak's teachings. The first line is 'Cast out fear. There is no room for anything else until you cast our fear.'
Second line is 'We have differences. May we, together, become greater than the sum of both us.'

[missgaila]

Gaila perked at the invitation, a pleased grin spreading over her face as she took a seat opposite to Spock. She had almost been afraid that he'd turn her down, preferring to be alone, but luck was on her side once again. Spock was a really nice guy, all things considered.

Even still, as she sat there with her lunch, breaking off little pieces of bread to eat, she had troubles coming up with anything meaningful to say. What do you say to the superior officer who saved your life? Spending a couple of moments in silence, slowly chewing her bread, she tried searching for words.

"How are things?" she awkwardly settled on, playing with the bread crust between her fingers. "How's shore leave treating you?"

[vulcancommander]

Spock straightened up a little in his chair, pulling his tray towards him to make sure that Gaila had room for her own. The last time he had met with her, she had injuries in her leg, and various other ones from the attack on the ship. Right now, she looked - obviously much better - which indicated she had made a full recovery.

When she queried him, the Vulcan looked up at her. Gaila almost looked uncomfortable, or at least awkward. "Shore leave has been quiet, which I am enjoying. My work is caught up on, and my relationships have been mended, which was not intended on this leave, but welcomed. How is shore leave for you, Miss Gaila?"

[lt_mcgivers]

She'd been avoiding people lately. She'd been quiet, and withdrawn, more so than usual - not that anyone had noticed, she was sure. While she'd meant to spend this leave holed up in her office, the Enterprise's crew looked after its own, and someone had found her and told her to get off the ship and go enjoy herself. So she'd been wandering around the station here and there, since not going on leave was apparently not an option.

She caught sight of the commander when she stopped by the station's mess hall, and after a few minutes of steeling herself to go talk to him, she ordered a light snack and a cup of coffee and approached, uncertain as to what she wanted to say. "Commander... Um. May I have a word, please, sir?"

[vulcancommander]

Spock hadn't thought much about the coma he'd been in. Contrary to popular Human belief, Vulcans did dream, and that's all the coma had been. At least, that's what Spock thought. It had to have been pure coincidence that Marla McGivers had been present.

The Commander finished off the soup he had and started slicing his fruit when a voice pulled him from his thoughts. Looking up, he locked gazes with Miss Marla herself, standing there with a snack and coffee. Silence hung in the air for a moment before he nodded. "Yes, lieutenant. Will this be...I believe the phrase the captain uses is 'on or off the record'?"

[lt_mcgivers]

She nodded slightly and took a seat, picking at the brownie she'd ordered, not really eating any of it at all. "Off the record," she replied, quietly. "It's... personal." Sort of. Was it? She didn't know. She continued to fidget, taking a long sip of her coffee before looking up again. "I don't know if you're aware of the fact, but I was one of the people who... who were affected by that anomaly. And..."

This was going to sound silly. It was going to sound illogical and irrational and ridiculous and of all the people she could have approached to talk about it, Spock was probably the worst choice. "And I know this sounds illogical," she continued, still picking at her brownie, "But I've... I keep dreaming about what I dreamt about when I was asleep, and..." And for some reason she couldn't quite put her finger on, it scared her to dream about it.

[vulcancommander]

Spock sliced through a few of his fruit slices, making a neat pile of both Vulcan fruit (hirats, kasas, and one yon-savas) and Earth fruit (bananas, melon, and honey dew)as she made herself comfortable. "This conversation is off the record then." The Vulcan answered, setting his utensils aside and looking to her. Her fidgeting and seemingly nervous state of being made him raise The Eyebrow before she spoke about how it was personal. And then more fidgeting, before she told him how it was illogical and that she'd been in a coma.

"I recall being told that besides me, there were a number of other crew members that had been in the sleep coma due to the anomaly." He looked quite attentive as she said she'd been recalling her dream over and over when she slept. It looked, to Spock anyways, like it disturbed her. "May I inquire as to what your dream was about?"

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

The more he actually went out and visited the station - usually without Liz; he felt vaguely guilty about that, but she wasn't up to dealing with crowds and didn't really mind it that he'd been going off without her - the less he decided that he absolutely hated it. Stations weren't his first choice for leave, but it was better than nothing. The pub wasn't so bad, and he had found that dress for Liz. All in all, it was shaping up to be a pretty decent leave.

He'd been wandering, trying to find something to do that didn't involve going to the pub, because while the pub was fun, he'd much rather go back to his quarters and drink a bit with Liz. Eventually he found his way to the mess hall, figured that a coffee couldn't hurt, and looked around for someone to sit and chat with for a bit. Spock wasn't really his first choice, he had to admit, but then again... Well, he honestly didn't know the commander all that well, except on a strictly professional basis, and it couldn't hurt to be friendly, right? Right. "Evenin', Commander."

[vulcancommander]

Spock probably wouldn't have been a first choice for a good majority of the Enterprise crew. But for once, he actually looked pretty serene as he sat at the table, slicing his fruit up and taking a glance out at the spacescape beyond the porthole. As serene a Vulcan could get anyways. He just didn't look as...uptight as usual.

He looked up at Scotty as he approached, and set his knife down when he was greeted. "Good evening, Mr. Scott. I presume your shore leave on the space station has been going well for you?" He asked, making a neat stack with his fruit before pulling out the spoon for his soup.

[lt_cmmdr_scott]

He settled into the seat opposite Spock without really waiting for an invitation; they were both off-duty, after all, and while he still regarded Spock with respect, he figured he could take a few liberties. Like not asking whether or not it was okay to sit down. "I've had worse," he answered noncommittally, with a small shrug.

Granted, he'd had better, but that was leave on a station for you. It just wasn't the same as having a few days of real sun and real weather to remind him why he preferred living on the ship. "An' yourself, sir?"

[vulcancommander]

Which is partially the reason why Spock didn't ask in the first place. Sometimes it was hard if Scotty was passing through or intending to have a seat with the person he was addressing. That and Spock new that the Engineer was married now, and had whims from his wife to cater to. Something illogical like that.

"This shore leave is not the best by past experiences as a standard, but decent. We are allowed off of the ship into a much more recreational environment, which I know most of the crew will not complain about. My shore leave has been decent. I have been able to catch up on my work, and mended relationships. I am content with the shore leave so far."