Posted by Major Taylor Zigman (Battalion Surgeon.) in Frankie’s Pizza (open to all)

Posted by Mar. Captain Eleanor “Iron Lady” Carnegie (Recon Squadron CO/Pilot) in Frankie’s Pizza (open to all)

Posted by Major Taylor Zigman (Battalion Surgeon.) in Frankie’s Pizza (open to all)
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It was a small restaurant. In fact, it was less of a restaurant and more of a shop. The worn out tables, made of plywood and plastic, lined a single wall allowing the few that wanted to sit in to eat indoors. Orders were taken by the door, at a gap on the long wooden counter where a short shriveled old man waited expectantly for the next client to enter. A small plastic menu taped to the counter advertised calzones and hoagies as the main specialties of the place and glass panels kept the customers from the rest of the counter where pizzas with different toppings were on display.

Sitting alone at a far table, Eleanor waited for her meal to be brought to her. The iced tea bottle sat undisturbed in front of her, as the pilot mindlessly twirled the highball glass between her fingers. She hadn’t bothered changing from her flight suit, so within the mostly black and yellow colors of the few patrons, the Marine seemed slightly out of place, if it wasn’t for the interest she seemed to have on the Steelers game currently on on the joint’s only screen.

Beyond the restaurant, the Holodeck had been left open, in the hopes that maybe someone would stumble upon the program and join her. If not, the Men of Steel would make her feel less lonely.

Cpt. Carnegie, Recon Squadron CO

Finding the gym and treadmills extremely boring, Taylor was using the corridors as her training grounds—running through them, darting left and right to avoid crashing in to others as she passed them. Since deck 6 contained the holodecks and suites, there wasn’t a lot of traffic she had to sidestep, but there was enough. As she ran, she flipped the activities of the day across the screen of her mind, reviewing them and making sure she’d tied up all loose ends for the night shift that had replaced her an hour ago.

She’d just mentally started going over her plans for the next day when an aroma hit her and made her mouth water. “Oh God…is that…? PIZZA!” She exclaimed as she came even with the holodeck doors that had been left invitingly open. There proceeded to be a mental war in her head as she tried to talk herself out of going in, but in the end, common sense won out.

It only took a minute to make her way through the line where she ordered a cheese calzone and a beer, then she was looking out over the tables for a place to sit and enjoy it. She spotted Capt Carnegie immediately and walked over. “Would you like some company or were you hoping to be alone?”

—Ziggy

Eleanor took her eyes from the game to see who had spoken at the same time that the shop’s sole other employee brought Carnegie her own calzone. Startled for a moment she managed to shoot a quick smile and thank you to the busy cook before turning her gaze to the Marine standing in front of her.

“Oh! Please, some company would be nice.” She said in a surprised tone motioning to the spot across from her on the table. After a very short pause Eleanor added apologetically. “I’m sorry. You and dinner came in all at once.” She smiled. “Major Zigman, right?” Carnegie asked making sure she hadn’t gotten the name wrong. “It’s been a long week. I’ve been spending so much time inside a cockpit that if it wasn’t for my crew I wouldn’t have seen much life the past few days…” She chuckled pushing her glasses back against her face.

“So, Major, how’s MarMed treating you?” With her meal sitting in front of her, Eleanor didn’t touch it, patiently waiting for Zigman to be brought hers too so as to not start without her.

Carnegie

OOC: Oooooo Joana, I’m so sorry!! The last week I’ve been dealing with cluster migraines!!! I’ll be more attentive now, I promise!

OOC: No worries! And ouch… I hope you’re feeling better now! I’ve been dealing with a busier-than-expected week and a half and I ended up having to put STF a little in the back-burner as well, so, don’t worry! :)

IC:

Zigman sat on the offered chair. “I hear you about having a long week. I’m pretty sure that all but two of our Marines have been through MarMed in the last few days. Physicals, updating charts and vaccinations…ugh!” Just then her food and drink arrived which brought an excited smile to her face.

She lifted her beer in Carnegie’s direction, offering a silent toast before gulping half of it down. “Ohhh, God, that tastes good!!! I was out for a run,” Here she gestured to her clothing, “and smelled the pizza. Suddenly I was starving, so, here I am.”

“Ah, I see that my evil plan worked!” Eleanor chuckled. “I should try it more often.”

Taylor took a bite of the Italian dish. The cheese was very hot and stretched from the Calzone to her mouth. She pinched it off with her fingers, threw the excess in with the first bite and grinned. “Its meals like this that make long days worth it.”

—Ziggy, MarMed

“Definitely!” Eleanor said with a grin. “This is a little place me and my brothers used to go to when we were kids… well… when I was a kid and they were teens trying to take me places behind our parents backs.” Carnegie smiled taking a bite of her own calzone. “Since then it has become the place I visited to decompress whenever I was in town to see my family…” She shrugged. “Eventually I made it into a holodeck simulation because I couldn’t visit as often as I wanted. But so is life… I’m glad you enjoy it, Major. Feel free to visit it whenever you feel like.” She took a sip of her iced tea and smiled. “Do you have any little piece of home you keep around the holodeck?” There was a split second before the realization of how personal the question she just asked really was. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is. I don’t want to pry on your personal life.” She shot Zigman another warm smile.

Carnegie, Recon Squad CO

Taylor saw the flash of concern on Carnegie’s face. Since her mouth was full at the time, she made a gesture with one hand as if to waive off the possible offense, before chasing the Calzone down her throat with another swallow of beer. “Not to worry, Captain. If I wasn’t ready for small talk or getting to know you, I wouldn’t have sat down.” Here, she smiled. “Besides, I have a feeling that you and I are going to be friends.” She looked around at the holodeck pub. “I don’t have anything like this, but one of my favorite programs to run contains variations of old libraries.” She wrinkled her nose then. “I know it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I love books—the feel of pages and the smell of aged paper and ink.”

Eleanor chuckled before taking another sip of her tea. Flying had always been her way of escaping, but there wasn’t a day in which she hadn’t find her way through her parents immense library. She could name any subject, and her parents would have it. Old, new, but most of them passed down through the generations.

“They aren’t real, I know that, but a friend of mine tweaked the program and its very, very real.” She lifted the beer glass in the air, asking the proprietor for a refill. “Oh, and my friends call me Ziggy.”

—Ziggy, MarMed

“Ellie.” Carnegie said with a grin extending her hand in way of a ‘new’ greeting. “I find libraries to be mysterious places… Almost like a holodeck where the programs are sitting in shelves.” She said. A somewhat wistful gleam in her eyes. “It used to be my favorite spot to hide from my brothers when playing hide and seek… although that didn’t last long. Them being older and all…” There was a hint of sadness in her tone as she took another bite of her calzone, but it was gone in a split second. “Andy read half the books on our parents’ shelves… no wonder he’s so well off!” With a smile, Eleanor wiped her lips before continuing. “Tommy and I used to just grab random books and find interesting passages to read… sometimes dad would read us his favorites…” She shrugged before smiling at her company. “If you’re ever in Pittsburgh let me know. We can go eat real non-replicated calzones from the real Frankie… and I can show you my parents’ book collection. What kind of books do you like to read, Ziggy?”

Carnegie, Recon Squad CO