The Mystery of Miss Coffee

Posted on Fri Feb 10th, 2012 @ 8:22pm by Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Varies

Leaving Eli to his own devices for a little while before they met up again at the Wormhole, Chance Conradi headed to where he knew he'd find Darwin: the Security Department's main holodeck. Sure enough, a training simulation was just ending.

"...you died, again, Lieutenant Darwin!" One of the participants laughed and clapped a bare-headed male on the shoulder. "Thanks! That means I win the pool!"

Chance chuckled. From Oralia, he'd heard the stories of Darwin's inability to stay alive during training simulations and of the younger officers' betting pools on how long it'd take in each simulation for him to eat dirt. What surprised Chance, though, was Darwin's appearance: he had no hair. "Hey, Darwin!"

"Hey, Chance," the Lieutenant greeted him and casually waved his team on, effectively dismissing them for the day. "Lemme catch a quick shower, then we'll head to... wherever it is you wanted to go."

"Sure...," he nodded and furrowed his brows as he looked at Darwin's head. "What's with the hair?"

That brought Darwin to a halt. He looked at Chance for a moment then asked, "You didn't see your sister before she left, did you?" At the kid's shake of the head, he nodded. "Well... ah... you should know that she had her hair cut off." He shrugged and disappeared into the locker rooms, leaving Chance with his questions.

* * * The Wormhole Bar* * *

Eli had arrived a little early, dressed in off duty clothes. Seyla, the ever-present Orion bartender had already spotted him. She slithered over to lounge against his table, far too close and in obvious defiance of Jackson's order to leave Eli alone. Trailing her finger down his cheek she smiled.

"Afternoon, gorgeous. It's been a while, Jackson works you much too hard."

Eli gave her a quick faint smile. "I do alright, Seyla. You're looking lovely as always."

Her own smile widened. "I see you don't let Jackson's prejudice color your own views. I'm impressed." She leaned closer, her lips drawing near his cheek, giving him ample view of her...ample assets.

Seyla's position gave Darwin and Chance a good view of her ample assets at the other end. Darwin paused just a moment longer than Chance, who moved to Eli's side. Coming up beside Seyla, Darwin quickly goosed her and then said, "I thought it was made clear, Seyla, that the Cadets are off limits for you."

Seyla jumped and swatted playfully at Darwin, but as Eli stood and kissed Chance briefly, her smile shifted to a frown. She looked the pair of cadets over, her expression sly. "Ohhh, so it's like that is it? Pity." She shimmied past Darwin, goosed his ass in return, then moved on, muttering about the good ones always being gay, married, or an unidentifiable species.

Darwin's eyes followed the assets and called after her, "Say, bring us a couple of beers, please, Seyla." She waved a hand, meaning she'd be back in a minute.

"Hey guys," Eli settled back down in his seat. "She should be here any minute now."

Nodding, Darwin asked, "Who is this girl? Chance keeps calling her Miss Coffee."

"Close enough, I don't know her real name," Eli admitted as they took their seats. "She serves coffee out on the promenade. Slipped me a note today saying she had something for me. I didn't sense that it was just some way of meeting me to ask me out or anything, and after the break-in we had, Chance thought it might be a good idea if you were here."

"Break in?" Darwin's brows furrowed as he looked from one to the other.

Chance explained what had happened; Oralia had gotten notice of the break-in, but it was out of Darwin's territory. Finishing with the tale, he looked at Eli, "Should we be sitting with you when she comes? Dar and I can move over to the bar and just watch."

Eli nodded. "Next table so you can hear." He looked up and gave them a brief sign. "She's stepping in now."

Darwin and Chance quickly shifted over, leaving Eli alone at his table. As Miss Coffee came in and wended her way around the tables to Eli's, Chance asked Darwin about his sister's hair.

The waitress stood, looking over the tables till Eli raised his hand to wave her over. She looked rather relieved, taking care not to brush too close to the usual miscreants in this place as she crossed.

"Hi Eli." She gave him a nervous smile, and Eli immediately sensed her temperature raising a notch and her heart beat increasing.

Through his link to Eli, Chance caught the signs, too; he also saw her pupils dilate - a common sign of sexual desire. He smiled slightly and shot Eli the thought: Uh-huh. Guess who'd love to do nothing more than show someone her special brewing skills?

Eli groaned inwardly, hoping Chance wasn't right and that this was more than her desire to get to know him better than he was willing. "Please sit down. What's going on?"

She settled in a chair across from him, then leaned close as if she didn't want to be overheard. "I know you probably have to get to the Nexus soon so I won't keep you long." Eli noted stoically that she would love to do just that based on her thoughts. "But earlier, there were two men at one of those tables and they were talking about...you." She went on to describe the two men.

"Me?" he repeated.

She nodded. "Yes. They seemed to be looking for something they hadn't found yet and didn't sound too happy. Whatever it is they think you have it." She paused a moment and touched his hand, her expression concerned. "Please be careful. They didn't feel right."

"Thanks, I will." He pulled his hand back as soon as he could without being insulting. "If you see them again, will you call me?"

"Sure." She gave a nervous glance around and noting Darwin, whose face and new hair style she recognized from the coffee shop, at the next table, she stood. "I need to go, I'm just here on my break. See you tomorrow." And before Eli could answer she hurried away.

Before she was completely gone, Chance had already turned to Eli, "Two guys, looking for something you have? Perhaps a particular coin?" He didn't look worried, yet, but worry trembled along his link to Eli.

"My guess. Either of them sound familiar? They don't to me, but then that's no surprise, they'd stay out of my sight." He looked from Chance to Darwin, speaking for the latter's benefit. "Otherwise, I'd pick them out in an instant."

Chance shrugged and shook his head. "They don't sound familiar to me, either."

"Then I'll have someone in my team pull the security feed from the cafe, see if the computer can provide some names," Darwin said before sipping the beer Seyla had brought him. "Shouldn't be too hard to get that information."

"Thanks Darwin." He rose and held a hand out to Chance. "Let's get out of here shall we? And no gloating about her, seems you were right."

Chance laughed and took his lover's hand. As he stood, Darwin didn't move but did say, "Hey, tell your sister she owes me dinner."

"Will do. Though I think you see her more than I do," he replied and waved as Eli pulled him out of the bar. Soon as they were gone, Darwin smiled as Seyla slid into the seat next to him.

_______________
Eli Ziyad
Lady Magnet

Chance Conradi
Orion Repellant

Michael Darwin
Just along for the fun