Twenty Questions

Posted on 27 Jun 2020 @ 3:19am by Lieutenant Junior Grade Eira Cortez & Gunnery Sergeant Kyle Walken

Mission: Ohuna - The Secret
Location: Multiple Locations
Timeline: 1900hrs

The shift had been long but relatively quiet so Cortez had a decent chance to relax for a while before she headed off to bed for the night. Getting to deck 9 to the bar and sitting on one of the stools available, she took in the surroundings while ordering a Bellini with grape juice as she didn't drink anything remotely alcoholic while on board. There were a number of people dotted around the place, relaxing and chatting with a low level of noise being generated.

Sipping on the drink, she noticed the familiar face of one of the Marines she was planet side with. She didn't know his name as they hadn't spoken or anything unfortunately.

Kyle gives a reassuring nod to his team before splitting off from them. He leans against the bar, "I'll take my regular, make sure you use one of the bottles I gave you." The Marine didn't have to wait long as the bartender made his whiskey sour. He took a long drink happy that he had a large collection of real liquor and not that fake stuff that most Starships had.

"I'm guessing you've had a rough day then? To be knocking back the hard stuff?" Eira inquired with interest as she eyed him up.

The Sergeant looks towards where the voice was coming from, he took a moment to study the woman before him but upon seeing the gray of her uniform he knew it was a spook. "Guess you could say that Marines tend to have a lot of hard days when fighting planetside. What about you, what's your tale?"

She laughed a little at the question, "Unfortuantely I dont know you well enough to give you that info, Marine, but you can just call me Cortez." She extended her hand for a shake.

Walken shakes hands with Cortez, "Walken, figured you would be in the officers' lounge instead of being down here."

"And miss out on these?" Eira shook the glass in her hand gently, careful not to spill it, "I dont think so. Plus I like how casual and laid back it is up here. Wouldn't you rather be with your fellow Marines?"

"Well of course, but it's not like I have a choice in the matter." Kyle laughs quietly before taking a drink of his whiskey sour. "So then Miss Cortez how much do I need to learn about you before you reveal your story to me?"

"To be honest, a lot." Eira finished her drink and got another one. "I'm not the easiest person to figure out or learn about." She quickly imagined a few scenarios of how he could find out but chose not to voice them. Nope, too soon after Cassidy. "I guess you'll just have to ask and find out."

"Alright then, let's start easy. Family? A lot or a few?" Walken asks as he sits down at the bar offering the stool next to him to her.

She took the seat offered and slid the refilled drink along the bar, "Ooh, sore point right off the bat. Two older brothers. You?" Maybe it wasn't a good idea to play 20 questions if they were gonna be like that, but carry on.

"Younger brother and younger sister, you might have seen my sister around the ship at some point," Kyle answered as he lifts his drink once more. "Hobbies?"

"I'm rather boring really: I enjoy reading and a bit of dancing. What's your favourite place you've visited so far?" She took in the surroundings while still focusing on him and took another drink.

"Not too many happy memories of places I get to visit, normally if we are going you know it's not gonna be a good time." He answered honestly.

That was kinda sad, "Well how about we take a trip to the holodeck and I show you one of my most favourite places to be?" Eira smiled hopefully

Kyle downed the rest of his drink, "Couldn't hurt to see what someone in intelligence's favorite place is." he laughs softly to himself.

"Come on then," Eira got up out of the seat, finished her drink and held out her hand to Kyle and smiled. "I'll show you where a spook goes to hide."

Kyle tilts his head a little confused as to why she offered her hand but he took it in his. "Alright let's see then."

She became acutely aware after a few moment that she was holding his hand and they'd intertwined fingers, so Eira let go gently and nervous giggled

They took the lift to where the holodeck was and Eira loaded the program and they entered the holodeck, the view changed to show them standing at the shore off a clear blue lake that travelled through the fjord. Behind them stood a cluster of wooden frames houses with moss growing on the roofs and a stream flowing behind and a mountain range beyond that that stretched. The temperature was cold but not freezing, it was dead silent aside from that of nature and best of all was they were the only two people.

Eira turned to Kyle, "So what do you reckon? Do you like my hide away?"

Kyle took a deep breath as he took in the beauty of his surroundings, "This is a very lovely place. I never got to go out to many places like this. I am curious about how this became your hideaway, place from your childhood?" He turns his attention back to Eira now.

"Back when I was a kid, one of my favourite memories was my parents took my brothers and I here for a family holidays a couple of years in a row. And I just remember this place keeps me sane." She smiled happily and began to walk down to the lake where there was a pier. "Now you know something."

"A few things," Kyle laughs as he follows Eira down to the lake. "Reminds me of a small trip we used to take, nothing like this just a small lake we used to go too."

"Where abouts are you from? Tell me about it." Reaching the edge of the pier, she took off her shoes and sat down with her feet dangling over the edge. "What's your family like?"

"From the Midwest, nothing but flatlands. As for my family, well my dad was a Marine as well so he was about as serious as he can be, Tony my younger brother just finished up high school. Pretty sure he is debating if he is going to go Marines or Navy still. Emma...well I leave that up to you to find out, you can go spy on her." he finishes his statement with a laugh.

"Maybe I might go find her later and have a chat with her then." She raised an eyebrow and a smirk played on her lips. "I'm the only one in my family. So no one to tell my stories to." The water was cold but oh so refreshing. "I've never been to the midwest before either... I'm guessing that's America?"

"Your guess is correct, guess I will just have to get the stories directly from you then."

"And how are you gonna do that, huh?" More out of curiosity than anything.

"Just by asking, why what did you think I was gonna do?"

She shrugged and laughed, "How would I know? I only met you half an hour ago! You could be a stalker for all I know."

Kyle erupted in laughter, "Well let's be fair you are the one who brought me to an isolated area so wouldn't you be the stalker?"

"Hmmm.. not really. I was only showing you this so it's one place, albeit not the real thing, that has a good memory to it." She looked back down to the water and moved her feet around. "Feel free to change the program to whatever you like or we can even go back to the bar so you can get more whiskey sour? Up to you."

"That's one downside to holodecks, they can take you anywhere. But if you have a special connection to the place you know it's not the same." Kyle stares out across the water of the lake for a few moments, "I'm fine with staying here with this place for a while, it's quiet. Don't always get a lot of that in the Marines barracks."

"You're welcome," Eira said softly as she pulled her feet out of the water and laid with her back on the dock while looking up at the clouds. "I'm happy to share this with you." The Scandinavian accent she tried so hard to hide came slipping back through but only briefly before she'd picked it up and changed it back again.

Kyle notices the accent as he hits down next to her, "So where are you originally from?"

"Sweden, hence the hair and eyes." She turned her head to look at him and switched back to how she normally spoke, "It's a very rare occasion it comes out though, as you can see."

"Embarrassed about where you are from? Or is it because of the spook training to hide the real you away for your cover story?" Walken asks.

"Yep." She nodded, "Gotta learn to be someone you're not. But I was thinking of maybe transferring to another department like medical or something and learning some new skills after the trial is over.. I'd make a good medical officer, don't you reckon?" She laughed a bit at the thought.

"I don't think I'm qualified to answer that, I don't know enough about you or the medical field to say if you would be a good medical officer." He answers honestly standing back up. "I would say go with what your gut says."

"Oooh, last time I did that I ended up in the brig." Eira laughed and stood up herself, putting her shoes back on as she did so. "But that's another story for a different time because like you said, I don't know enough about you and vice versa. What would you like to do now? Anything in particular?"

"Hmm, well tell me about the real Cortez, growing up."

"It was fairly standard, to be honest: I grew up in Sweden until we moved to London when I was ten," She shrugged and sent a pebble flying. "We went to private colleges until I finished my schooling, then my parents were proud when my brothers joined Starfleet. I, however, had to work harder."

Turning to him, "What about you?"

"I would say as average as any Marine family, our dad always expected all of us to join up. So far I'm the only one who did, Em went to college and was commissioned in. I enlisted about a year after I finished high school and well the rest I'm sure is in my file somewhere." Kyle answers.

"I'm sure I could find it if I tried hard enough, but I don't think it would feel right doing that," Eira replied with a shake of the head. "You know what? You're pretty good company, and I don't think I could find better if I tried at the moment, with Cassidy leaving and all."

"Want to find it out the old way." Kyle laughs softly. "Never got to know him but I'm glad I can help out if I'm good at one thing it's listening to others." He pauses and looks at the clear water once more. He offers his hand to Eira, "Would you like to go for a walk?"

She took his hand and he helped her up, "You could always walk me back to my quarters and we could pick back up on this at a later stage? I've enjoyed this."

"I'll take you up on that offer, I had a great time as well," Kyle states calling for the arc so the pair could leave the holodeck.

The pair walked to the turbolift and took it to the deck above where her quarters were. Stopping at the door she turned to face him, "So, uh yeah... I'm not good at anything like this. What happens now?" She laughed to hide the uncertainty in her voice at not knowing what to do. Do they just leave it there, does something else happen, she didn't know and hoped he did.

Kyle smiles at her confusion and places a hand on her shoulder, "Now I simply say good night, then you say good night. Following that, I walk back down to the marine barracks thinking about the great time I had, you got back inside thinking the same and looking forward to the next time we do this. After that, it's all up too you." The marine removes his hand. "Good night Cortez."

"Okay, I like the sound of that. Goodnight Kyle" Eira turned to enter her code in the door to let herself in but turned back around to watch as he began to walk away, "By the way, my name is Eira. I'll see you later." She smiled and walked into her quarters with a smile on her face. It was a good few hours and she'd had fun, hopefully he had too and they would indeed do it again.

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Kyle Walken, GySgt, SFMC
2d MSOT/OPS

Eira Cortez, LT(JG), SF
Assist. Chief of Intelligence