driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Beverly Crusher, Ezri Dax, James Kirk, Leonard McCoy, and Pavel Chekov - and you, should you like to stop by!
Broadcast: video
Action: Málum
When: April 5

[So Beverly may or may not have taken a few tequila shots. And she may or may not be quite drunk and affectionately effusive about... everything. Thus she has something Very Important to tell the Fleet, which she does from inside Málum with some of her Starfleet companions around. Thankfully, one of them is holding the camera or this feed would be a lot more intolerably shaky.

It's also one of the rare times you'll find her in her Starfleet Uniform.]

Today! [Beverly claps her hands together.] Today is an important holiday back home - First Contact Day! It marks the time when humans finally launched the first spaceship powered by warp drive and that was also the same day we met the Vulcans. [She frowns, her thoughts coming more slowly than is usual.] I don't think we've had any Vulcans here in the fleet, unless it was a long time ago before I came. Which is really weird when you stop to think about it, that there's been Humans and Cardassians and Trill but no Vulcans. Or anybody else really. Vulcans kind of look like elves so I've often wondered if maybe they are but just so many universes removed that it's not quite the same.

[Clearly someone is giving her A Look from behind the camera and she points an admonishing finger at them.]

I'm getting there! [She straightens up and pats her hair, getting back into "lecture" mode.] What probably many of you don't know, is that I saw all of this, first hand, the last time I went home. You see there were the Borg - only we're not going to go into them because this is supposed to be a celebration - and they were trying to go back in time to ruin the warp ship so the Vulcans wouldn't come down to see us so of course we had to go stop them even though we're not supposed to time travel - and for good reason too, it's a pain in the ass. One time Mark Twain followed us onto the Enterprise and it was this whole thing though I guess it worked out all right in the end because then he wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court so that's good. And he really was very nice and understanding of why he couldn't tell anyone what he saw.

[Another pause as she tries to figure out why she started talking about Mark Twain. Ah! Right!]

So anyway we had to go back in time to stop the Borg and so we met Zefram Cochrane who invented the warp drive and he was completely not like any of us expected and you know, sometimes they say you shouldn't meet your heroes? We'd all been taught about what a great genius he was, and that's true, but I guess they didn't really want to mention in the history books that he really liked to party and building the ship wasn't some noble, selfless endeavor to advance science - it was a difficult time in human history, and he needed the money. But that's the beautiful thing isn't it? People are complicated and may not always be what you expect but they still can do great things. And that's really what First Contact Day is about, celebrating the amazing things we've already done and the things we'll do in the future too. Together.

[This nerd, y'all. You should come party with her.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not everyone's favorite. Not even Scotty's, not really. Keenser is his favorite. I'm no one's favorite.

[He sounds quite sure of himself. Then again, he's certain of most of the things he says after he's had a few drinks.]

It would be an intense debate, yes, but not a fight. We're scientists, Captain Jim, we settle our disagreements with words.

Now now, none of that Russian pessimism on a holiday!

_{[ He reached out and ruffled the red curls fondly. ]}

You have not met some of the scientists I know then. Debates can get pretty heated. Passion, you see!

Realism, Russians are realists, and reality doesn't observe holidays.

[He's not bothered enough to do anything more than look slightly exasperated, but excuse you Jim, he's a grown man.]

Which scientists are these? I want to disagree with them.

No, it's pessimism. Reality has sunny days, after all.

_{[ That you might be, but you're still adorable. ]}

If you want that, you should come spar.

I made an observation. An observation cannot be pessimistic.

[Isn't there a rule somewhere that says you can't be adorable after, say, age twenty-one? Chekov thought he saw that somewhere.]

Ah, no. No thank you. I would rather not be embarrassed in front of you.

Sure it can. You can observe that the glass is either half empty, or half full. One is definitely pessimistic.

_{[ Well, it clearly doesn't apply to you. There's always an exception.
He gives him a flat look at that pronouncement. ]}

Then we definitely need to. We can't let your practice fall off.

Or the observation is only an observation and placing so much meaning on word choice is ridiculous.

[Now he's just being argumentative. Someone should probably discourage him from buying himself another drink.]

Why does it matter how practiced I am?

It's a view point - either it's empty, or it is full. One is inherently more optimistic than the other.

_{[ Yes, he was, and Kirk was very okay with meeting with that head on.
If anyone was stubborn in the Fleet, it was Kirk. ]}

Because we run into trouble on this Fleet more than I like and I want you to be able to defend yourself if something should happen.

[Kirk has him there, so he just waves a hand dismissively. He's at least one shot beyond being as polite and respectful as usual, oops.]

Natasha is going to teach me, please don't worry. [Or should Kirk worry about Chekov seeking help from someone who wasn't him?]

_{[ There is a silence at that and Kirk gives Chekov a look. Hurt rides
beneath it, already stung from Chekov not wishing to speak to him further
on the issues with Kitty, and it did not help he was still sore about a
similar issue with Leonard. It just added another small cut to an
assortment that yet lingered. ]}

No, of course not. She's very talented - beats me in our sparring matches every time.

_{[ Maybe those words are more clipped than he would like. As it is, he
makes to stand. ]}

Well, I suppose I should leave you be. I'm glad you're settling in well, Chekov.

[Chekov has been hurting too. It'd help him to talk to someone, but unburdening himself to Kirk doesn't seem right, not when there's so much time between them. A lot happened in two and half years and Chekov has disappointed other Kirks by not being quite who they expected him to be. Saying too much to Kitty was a disappointment, too. The clear answer to everything is to not talk.

But he knows Kirk and he's sensitive to his captain's disapproval no matter his state. He reaches over to catch Kirk's sleeve.]

You don't need to go.

_{[ He knew Chekov had spent two years somewhere else. Already he could
tell he was not the Chekov he remembered, little, subtle things changed.
But wouldn't they have changed over two years with him anyways? People grow
and change. He himself had. Expecting Chekov to be entirely the same person
was foolish, even if the natural reaction was to do so. It would take time
to learn this new Chekov, but that wasn't Chekov's fault.}

_{He paused when the other caught his sleeve, looking down at Chekov.
]}

No, I suppose not if you don't want me to.

[He quickly pulls his hand back. He isn't sure why he wants Kirk to stay since he isn't sure he should tell him anything, but he really doesn't want to be left alone.]

I'm sorry. Please stay. I can buy you a drink...?