Camp, Fire, Tails, Part 3

Posted on Wed Oct 22nd, 2025 @ 4:37pm by Ensign Emmanuelle Larose & Senior Chief Petty Officer C'Hira Summers & Lieutenant Commander David Erickson & Lieutenant Karane Inda & Lieutenant CASTIEL 'Cas' Johnson MD & Lieutenant JG Annika Johnson & Lieutenant JG Renata Novotná & Ensign Siat-or-iian Elkovais & Chief Petty Officer Chloe Delacroix

1,356 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: ARYL 1X04: All the Friends We Can Get
Location: Recreation Lounge II
Timeline: Before Kannok Arrival

"Thank you," David said, warily. He racked the balls carefully, aimed the cue ball with care and moved his arm in one smooth motion, striking it and hitting the triangle hard enough to scatter most of the balls, sending the six and the nine into the pockets. He stood up and did his best to avoid looking neither smug nor relieved. He sank the two and the seven before he attempted to sink the twelve and it went every so slightly off course, bouncing around the corner pocket before moving back towards the center.

He stepped back and nodded to Karane. "There's time to back out, if you wish," he said.

"I should be asking you that," she said in response. "I should warn you, I was the pool teams ace back at the Academy. I've been watching your style of play..." she rolled and shoulder. "Its been a few years though..."

David reached over and put his hand on hers, holding her cue still and looked at her. He was about to make a point, then thought the better of it, then realized something she'd overlooked and let her and go, grinning at her. "Fire away," he said.

Torii leaned up against David and flicked her ears under his nose, “You know once she misses you’re screwed, right? Well, you’re kind of in trouble any which way.” She looked up above her with a smile, “Of course, we could always save ourselves the trouble, couldn’t we?”

David playfully scratched Torii behind her ear. "Easy there, eager," he said.

Karane lined up her cue. She bent low down until she was at eye level with it, aiming it at the unsuspecting white cue ball. She drew back the cue a few inches, then forward, then back again as she grasped and judged its weight. Then with one mighty thrust, the end of her cue impacted the ball. It shot off in a straight line, striking the direct center of the waiting pool balls.

They scattered in different directions at speed, bouncing off each other and the side cushions. There was a thud as the yellow solid fell down into the left corner pocket, followed by another thud as the green stripes slotted down on right center.

Karane stood up, a mischievous smirk stretched across her face. "That's two."

"Pretty, good sense of spatial geometry, and she can count," David sighed loud enough for her to hear. "Be still my beating heart." He stuck his tongue out at her and grinned.

"Come on guys, do we need to teach you maturity. The tension between you guys are evident." Castiel replied, joking of course.

David froze and glanced at the two ladies. "Well I, for one, am certainly as mature as could be expected," he said. "Depending on who's doing the expecting." He smirked and leaned against the wall.

"Maturity?" Torii added to the cacophony, "When credits are on the line, or clothing for that matter, I do what I need to do to win! If distracting someone with a flick of a tail is all it takes, it's cheap for the price!" Her eyes danced with mirth.

Emmanuelle and C'Hira, drinks in hand, sat back and watched the group of pool players.

"How long until one of them realizes they're playing strip pool in a public lounge?" Emmanuelle asked her friend, quietly but not exactly whispering it.

C'Hira started snickering. "We'll find out, I guess, nya. Popcorn?" She held out a bowl she’d filled to Emmanuelle, who gladly took from it,

"Oh, I'm more than aware. The problem is, I'm far too competitive." Karane smirked. "And he'll want to win, which makes me want to win harder."

"No, the problem is, I know how to deal with people who are competitive," David said. "I once sold a five-credit chip for over two hundred credits by having people bid for it. So, by all means, run the table," he said, sitting down and crossing his legs confidently. "I dare you."

The dare was, perhaps, not his wisest move, but it was calculated. Karane got a fifth shot in before she finally, blessedly missed. David took his cue and stepped up, taking a deep breath. He aimed and shot, sinking one ball, then another, then another, then another and finally one more. He looked at Torii, made a judgement call in his head, then widely missed a corner shot. He sighed dramatically and stepped back as Torri stood up and gleefully sank the last five balls. With the table now cleared in a three-way tie, David grinned and sat back in his chair. "I guess we all sank five balls." He looked at Karane and held up his drink. "Good game."

"Does that mean that we all strip, or none of us?" Torii idly pushed the cue ball around on the table, "I mean, it's all even an' everything." She gave a mischevious grin to the rest of the residents of the room, "Though, not sure I really would do it right here and now? I mean, none of these guys and gals had the gumption to put it all on the line, no reaping the rewards, right?"

"Well....strictly speaking...we never did say when we pay off the bet...." David said, grinning evilly. "So, for now, table's free." He put his cue down and raised his glass to the ladies, grinning at Karane.

“Booooo!” Emmanuelle and C’Hira called out in unison. They each threw a handful of popcorn at David.

Torii flirted her tail towards the spectators and laughed, "Now, if you all wanted to bribe me, I could possibly go for it now, but I'd need something."

Karane huffed. "And whats is that exactly?"

"Don't answer that," David said, looking at Torii. He grinned at them and sat back, watching the room. Everyone was engaged in one conversation or another, most were smiling, save for his two disappointed fans. He looked at Karane and gestured to a chair nearby, offering to change from competition to conversation.

Raising an eyebrow Karane walked over towards David. She looked him in the eyes. "Did you need me for something?"

"No," he said, evenly. "But I had this insane idea that you might be interested in some light conversation.

"So, what's the subject?" She responded with a smirk. "Is this your way of getting out of the bet?"

David smirked. "We both sank some balls in that game, so we both need to pay up," he countered. "But as I said...we didn't agree when. So for now, how about discussing what else you do for fun besides hustle pool?"

"Well... this ship has a pool on board..." she said twiddling her thumbs whilst avoiding eye contact. "I don't mind a bit of swimming and stuff... but there's no slides or anything."

"More's the pity," David agreed. "I like to swim as well. There are several lakes on Ectu near where I grew up that were ideal for swimming.

The rest of the evening passed in a much calmer manner as no one else had the guts to attempt another game of strip pool. Conversations rose and fell, food and drink were consumed, and the the night ended with a general agreement that 'we should do this again sometime.' David said goodnight to Karane eventually and as she left, looked at C'Hira and Larose. "Thanks again, you two," he said. "Need a third pair of hands to clean up?"

“We should be fine, nya,” C’Hira answered. “This won’t take long anyway, nya.”

“See you tomorrow,” Emmanuelle said as she helped C’Hira put glasses on trays, to be taken to be washed by the ship’s service department.

An enjoyable night.

END


Lieutenant Commander David Erickson
Chief Navigator

Lieutenant Karane Inda
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant Castiel Johnson
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant JG Annika Johnson
Counselor

Lieutenant JG Renata Novotná
Chief Science Officet

Ensign Emmanuelle Larose
Bridge Support Officer

Ensign Siat-or-iian Elkovais
Security Officet

Senior Chief Petty Officer C’Hira Summers
Quartermaster

Chief Petty Officer Chloe Delacroix
Damage Control Specialist

 

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