My Very Own Bar

Posted on Sun Mar 14th, 2021 @ 2:50pm by Lieutenant Sophie Xiong & Siany ZyMach & Lieutenant JG Ryland Dedeker

3,358 words; about a 17 minute read

Siany chewed her lip as she gazed around the bar. This particular bar had not had a barkeep in quite awhile, she was told, and when she had signed the lease, had been required to undergo rigorous interviews. They seemed terrified that she would spill their secrets to the highest bidder! As if a Telino would do such a thing! Did they think treaties meant so very little to her people? Or perhaps they thought she had gone rogue from them. Siany supposed that wasn’t too far from the truth. After all, hadn’t her sister given her the riot act? “Bar tending is not a suitable career for one of the royal family!” Blah blah blah. Siany had stopped listening at some point.

Their mother approved, anyway. As long as Siany was happy, that’s all that mattered.

But! It was opening time! Siany excitedly unlocked the doors and returned to her place behind the counter, waiting for the first customers.

Ryland sauntered up to the bar and seated himself. Nobody was around, but such was par for the course. The station had a skeleton crew at peak times, and after the last bit of mess -- something about a crazy Betazoid cutting a swath through the place -- personnel was down by more than a bit. Still, that meant he could drink in peace.

"Barkeep," he called out without looking up. "Gimme the usual."

“Um,” said Siany slowly. “I’m kinda new. So I don’t know you’re usual.” Then she brightened. “Unless you want my usual! But I have to warn you, it’s sorta frightening. And you can’t have more than two; they’ll sneak up on you.”

Jaw slack and brow crinkled, Ryland let out a chuckle or two. "Uhhhh... Not seen you before. You one of Ferrofax's gals?" He eyed her up and down. "Mmm-mmm! I like you."

“I most certainly am not!” replied Siany in such a perfect imitation of her sister, everybody who knew her would have commented on it. Unfortunately nobody here knew the Queen of Yegorah. “I am Siany ZyMach! The new barkeep. And I’ll thank you to keep your eyes up here!” she added, pointed two fingers at her eyes.

"Damn if you holograms ain't getting more and more lifelike." Ryland chuckled again, this time more lecherously. "Alright, lil' lady, since you're pretending not to know my regular, gimme your best single malt on the rocks and don't spare the fingers."

“I’m not a hologram,” Siany replied, turning to fill his order. “I’m an actual real live person. And I’m not just saying that because I was programmed to or whatever nonsense you’re going to come up with. I’m an actual, honest to goodness flesh and bone person.”

Ryland squinted his eyes as he studied her. "Computer, restart barkeep program from the beginning, minus clothes."

Siany turned to give him a withering glare. “Really?” she said. “That’s where your mind goes? I’m far more interesting with my clothes on, I promise.” With a smirk, she set the drink in front of him. “There ya go, sugar,” she said cheekily.

"I'm still not convinced," Ryland said teasingly with a shake of his head. Reaching down into his pocket, he removed a string of beads that he was carrying for some reason that could not possibly be wholesome. "You ever heard of Mardi Gras? It's the best fuckin' festival ever, and it's held in a fun lil' city on Earth called New Orleans. All a fella's gotta do is take these here beads and--" He paused long enough to toss the beads at Siany. They bounced off her completely corporeal and non-holographic chest. "Huh." Ryland clicked his tongue against his cheek. "Guess you ain't a hologram after all."

“You... throw beads... at women’s tits... to see if they’re... holograms?” she asked, totally confused. “Humans are so weird.”

Ryland threw back a deep swig of his drink. "Honey, we can be downright freaky when the mood strikes us." Setting the glass down with a clang, he gave her a grin. "Since you're new here and all, allow me to introduce myself. Ryland Augustus Dedeker, Lead Flight Control Specialist and your own personal Moral Officer." He favored her with a wink. "You ever need a pick-me-up, just whistle."

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said noncommittally. “Is it always so... uninhabited here?”

"Eh, at times," Ryland said. "There's a lot of turnover, that's for sure. Plus there was some recent killin'. Some psychopath got loose and dropped a bunch of Marines, I guess, back during our last field assignment. Everyone's probably still a might skittish over it."

“You would think everybody would want drinks,” she commented. “I sure would, after all that.”

"Well, I'm here doing my part," Ryland said with mock offense. "What more could you want, princess?"

The smile quickly slid from Siany’s face and her eyes grew wide. She blinked twice and then said, “how did you...? Keep that under your hat, okay? I don’t know how you found out. I don’t think your captain even knows! But I don’t need it getting out. People treat you different when they know that. And anyway, it doesn’t mean anything here. It’s just Siany, okay? Nothing more.”

Ryland's eyebrow slowly climbed up his face until it nearly reached his hairline. "You're a tightly wound one, ain't ya?" Apparently he'd stumbled on something important, except he wasn't sure exactly what it was he'd said. "Well, I can keep a secret," he said with a sly grin. "How's about we make a night of it? We can get some dinner, have some sex, see where the evening takes us, all the while not telling anyone else about...about the thing."

Well. Well, damn. He hadn’t actually known, had he? And it sounded like he still didn’t. The smile sprang back to her face at once. “Yes,” she said. “I mean no. No to sex. Yes to keeping the secret. And maybe to dinner. But I just opened. What it people want drinks? And karaoke?”

"What kind of sick bastard sings karaoke when there's booze to drink?" Speaking of which, Ryland took another deep sip. "That's probably why you've got nobody here."

“Like everybody, once they’ve got a couple of drinks in them,” she replied as if it were obvious. “It’s fun! And nobody cares if you’re terrible or great. In fact, they like listening to the terrible ones as much as the great ones. You should try it sometime.”

Ryland finished up the last of his drink. "If you say so." He wiped his mouth. "That wasn't bad. What do ya call it?"

“A single malt, on the rocks, just like you ordered,” she replied with a smirk. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already!”

"Usually they got a name," Ryland said, "unless you brewed it yourself in the back. Lemme see the bottle?"

“I was teasing,” she said, turning and snatching a bottle of Aberlour off the shelf. “The best for over 500 years,” she added, presenting the bottle.

Taking the bottle in hand, Ryland gave the label a once over. "Not bad at all," he said. "You've got good taste... in scotch, that is. In men?" He waggled his eyebrows. "Well, that remains to be seen."

“Let me guess,” she laughed. “If I succumb to your charms, I have great taste in men. But if it turns out I’ve got a soft spot for that adorable engineer with the curly brown hair and the chocolate brown eyes...?”

"I don't see anyone else here," Ryland said. "A bird in the hand, yeah?"

“But whose hand am I in?” She asked enigmatically.

Ryland made to respond, but his eye caught notice of another patron entering the bar. "I, eh, never mind. Just remembered I need to go."

Walking up to the bar, Jaya's smile lit up the room like a lighthouse. "Hello!" Her empathy identified Siany as a living, breathing human being with more than the average empathic acumen -- a far cry from the holographic bartender she was used to! "I didn't realize we had a real person in here now, or I would've come sooner!"

"Yeah, she's swell," Ryland said, clearly keeping his distance from the little Deltan.

Though Siany’s own empathic powers were significantly weaker than the Deltans, she didn’t need them to know that the other woman made him uncomfortable. Even so, the dis-ease coming from him was strong enough to make her feel a little uneasy. She carefully separated herself from the emotion and grinned at the newcomer. “Hi!” she said cheerfully. “I’m Siany ZyMach. I just opened today! Can I get you anything. I’m allowed to serve real alcohol as well as synthahol and non-alcoholic drinks.”

"Oh, that's amazing!" Jaya clapped her hands in glee. "Give me something blended and fruity." Turning to Ryland, her smile shifted into a devious one. "Anything for you, Mr. Dedeker?"

Ryland vigorously shook his head. "No... no, I was just leaving."

"Awww..." Jaya made a mock pout. "Such a shame! I'm certain Siany here would just love to make your acquaintance." The teasing tone in her voice could not be more apparent.

"Yes, we were just getting to know each other," replied Siany, a gleam in her eye as she turned to replace the bottle of scotch on the shelf. "He's quite charming, don't you think?" She began pulling ingredients for a watermelon cooler as she gave Dedeker a wink.

"I'm sure he likes to think so." Jaya grinned without missing a beat. "Would you like to sit and catch up, Ryland? It's been so long since..." The way Jaya twisted her face into a sympathetic frown projected an avalanche of pity. "You know."

Ryland grew more uneasy with each passing moment. "Nah, I don't. It has been awhile, but, eh, I got, umm.... shit to do." And then he quite literally ran away.

"If you ever want to talk, just let me know!" Jaya called after him.

Siany could not contain the giggle as she set the cooler on the counter in front of the newcomer. “I might need to know the story behind that some day,” she confessed.

"Mr. Dedeker used to be far less mannerly than he is today," Jaya said. "Counseling does wonders for self-improvement." She took a sip from the watermelon cooler and let out a gasp that made her eyes bulge. "WOW! This is so much better than the replicator!"

“The secret is real watermelon,” Siany confessed. “Being a friend of royalty makes it easier to get large stasis generators. I’ve got all kinds of stuff in the back.”

The look on Jaya's went from elated to curious. "Watermelon and royalty?" She gave Siany a winsome sidelong glance. "Aren't you just full of surprises?"

“You don’t know the half of it,” grinned Siany. “But we’ll leave any more surprises for another day.”

Jaya nodded as she took a deep sip. "Fair," she said. "I'd ask you what royalty you're acquainted with, but I suspect Ryland is still in earshot and he's always talked about marrying into royalty on some planet."

“I’ll have to make sure I don’t accidentally marry him, then,” replied Siany with a mischievous grin.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people," Jaya quipped, but then slyly added, "So does that mean you're a member of royalty yourself?"

Almost everything Siany did was on a whim and this was no exception. She leaned conspiratorially close to the Deltan and with a wink, said quietly, “I’m the Queen’s sister.”

Jaya dipped her knee in a curtsy such as she saw from Storr's documentaries from Earth. "Your Grace! Had I but known!" She teased Siany with a wink.

Siany giggled. "Don't let it get around, okay?" she asked. "Oh, I'm so terrible at keeping secrets. Ooo!" she added, spotting movement outside the door. "It looks like Dedeker's back. And he's brought a friend."

Sure enough, Sophie was dragging Dedeker back into the bar. She glanced around and scowled at the empty place. "Doesn't anybody know the meaning of grand opening?" she muttered, approaching the other two women. "Hi," she said without even a hint of a smile. "I'm Sophie. Who are you?"

Siany, who could sense the engineer's friendliness, gave her a huge grin. "I'm Siany ZyMach!" she said cheerfully. "What can I get for you?"

Sophie's lips pursed in thought. "Surprise me," she said, settling onto a stool. "Sit down, Dedeker," she ordered.

"Back again so soon," she added to Dedeker as she turned to start a drink for Sophie.

"Looks like it," Ryland muttered as he allowed himself to be yarded onto a barstool.

"There are few places on the station suitable for a date," Jaya said, "so it's little wonder you came back with your girlfriend."

Ryland stared daggers at Jaya and hoped Siany had not heard or put the pieces together.

But Sophie beat her to it. "I'm not his girlfriend," she bristled.

"But he's so cute," teased Siany.

"Then you date him," Sophie shot back.

"I don't think he'd like that much," replied Siany. "I'm Telino."

Sophie stared at the barkeep for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "That would be the best joke ever," she giggled, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "Dedeker with a Telino!"

Even Jaya burst out laughing at that.

"What's so funny?" Ryland asked, a little offended at all the laughter at his expense. "What's a Telino?"

"It's my race," answered Siany, sitting a mint julep in front of Sophie. "And what's so funny is that we mate for life. And not by choice."

"I don't know a lot about it," admitted Sophie through more giggles, "but what I know is that a sort of mental bond forms when they first sleep with someone. And then you're stuck. For life."

"That's about the size of it," agreed Siany. "And it works with humans, too. I used to be Connected to one. He died," she explained as if it were no big deal- which it wasn't anymore.

"It's a rather common trait among empathic species," Jaya said. "We Deltans develop a bond to our entire race, but it's a bond nonetheless."

Ryland furrowed his brow. "So...if we'd bumped fuzzies, then...?"

“You’d be stuck with me for the rest of your life,” Siany told him.

Which set Sophie to giggling again and nearly made her spit out her drink.

"Why is that so funny?" Ryland asked.

"Because..." Jaya held herself around the ribs as she held in her laughter long enough to speak. "It would serve you right!"

And then she fell into a cackle in harmony with the other two gals.

“Sorry, Dedeker,” Siany said sincerely through her giggles. “But you have to admit, it’s pretty funny. I barely know you and can tell you don’t like to be tied down.”

Ryland started to sulk. "Just my luck to be surrounded by a bunch of fuckin' mind readers." He looked at Sophie. "Are you done here? 'Cause I am."

“Oh good grief, Dedeker,” replied Sophie. “There’s only one mind reader here. And she’s not reading anybody’s mind right now.”

"Uh huh..." Ryland was unconvinced. "Well, if I'm a captive here, might as well get shit-faced." He looked at Siany. "Gimme a triple!"

“Not too shit faced,” said Sophie casually. “I might need you later.”

Ryland shook his head. "Too late." He started chugging the drink like it was water.

Siany gave Jaya a significant look. If Sophie wasn't his girlfriend, she was something to him for sure. "So what else is there to do around here?" she asked to cover the silent communication. "Any weekly poker games? Zero-G handball? Anything at all?"

"No, I'm afraid Overwatch Station is only what you make it," Jaya said with a shake of her head. "In fact, I expect you'll be quite popular when the planetside duty rotation makes it back up. Tartarus is an inhospitable rock and the Deep Storage Archives weren't made for comfort or long-term residency. What with the turnover in personnel, you might not get many regulars." Or even stay long yourself, Jaya thought.

"See?" Siany said to Dedeker. "It's a good thing I've got Karaoke after all, isn't it?"

Jaya's eyes shot wide with joyful surprise. "Karaoke?! I love karaoke! I used to rock this little tiki cabana in San Francisco at the Academy!" She grabbed Sophie by the hand. "C'mon, Sophie!"

"I'll stay right here," said a half-inebriated Ryland as he lecherously sucked air through his teeth, "and enjoy the show."

“Seriously?” said Sophie as she was dragged along. “You’re gonna make me sing?”

"It's no fun to do alone!" Jaya insisted.

Ryland snickered back at the bar. "That's what she said," he slurred to Siany.

Despite herself, Siany giggled.

“Can we at least sing a Broadway song?” requested Sophie. “If I’m gonna be roped into singing karaoke, it should at least be Broadway.”

Jaya frowned. "What's Broadway? Is it like showtunes?"

“Yes, show tunes,” agreed Sophie, activating the console and automatically calling up the show tunes. “Do you have any preferences?”

"I don't recall very many..." Jaya said hesitantly. "They were all so new."

“Here’s an older one,” Sophie offered. “And it’s a duet.” She pointed to the screen, which showed the title, “For Good, from Wicked.” “Do you know it?” she asked.

"Maybe?" Jaya was genuinely unsure. "If not then I'm sure I can follow along! Start it up!"

“Okay,” agreed Sophie, selecting the song. “I’ll take the first part,” she added. She may have sounded bossy, but really, she figured it would give Jaya a chance to hear how it was supposed to go.

While the ladies starting singing their Broadway hit, Ryland turned to Siany. "Sooo..." His drawl was pronounced while under the influence. "Is that Connecting thing real? Or can we go fool around still?"

“It’s real,” Sophie replied, doing a good job of acting regretful. “Besides, I think Sophie wants to take you home tonight."

"But... I can do... two..." He chuckled at the very basic rhyme and nearly slid off his barstool.

Siany had to bite her cheeks to keep from laughing. "Not when one of them is Telino," she told him. "And anyway, Sophie is way hotter than me."

"True," Ryland agreed, "but she can't sing for shit." He cackled as he slipped off his barstool onto the floor.

"Don't listen to him," Jaya told Sophie. "You're doing great."

Of course she was doing great! Dedeker was just a philistine who didn’t know good music.

In actuality, Sophie was a passable singer. She was on pitch, had good enunciation, a pleasing tone and even a decent vibrato. But her voice was nothing special. She could certainly sing first soprano in a choir and contribute a lot to the group, but as a soloist, she was just kind of ho-hum. Still, she enjoyed it and nobody had to be spectacular to sing karaoke.

“I think she’s good,” Siany defended. “But somehow, I don’t think she’ll sing at you later. Well, maybe she will,” she added with a wink.

Jaya had a beautiful voice. After she got the hang of the melody, she sang along with Sophie has loud as her pipes would go. They blended well together into a powerful harmony.

And Sophie was having the time of her life. A true, bright smile spread across her face as they blended together near perfectly. It was a bit like being in voice lessons again with her old teacher. Her eyes brightened as the song reached its climax.

“She really seems to like it,” commented Siany.

But Ryland had nodded off.

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