Posted by Lieutenant Navale Huzzen (Engineer) in Gamma Tiltium IV- Tropical Chemistry

Posted by Chief Petty Officer Sam Nazarian (Host of Florence’s) in Gamma Tiltium IV- Tropical Chemistry

Posted by Lieutenant Navale Huzzen (Engineer) in Gamma Tiltium IV- Tropical Chemistry
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Navale looked up from the glass bottom, but only turned her head so she was still facing Sam. “Thank you Mr. Balwin. You’re boat is delightful.”

Lt. Huzzen, Engineer

He smiled widely. “I’m glad you agree, since I think so too.” Ridley turned to Sam. “Any changes to the plan?”

Navale grinned. “Well they say great minds think alike.”

Sam shook his head. “Nope. Straight on out.”

Ridley gave a quick salute that looked all -too- much like a well practiced Starfleet salute and headed to the cockpit. This particular boat wasn’t quite big enough to have a more formal bridge area, but it still was a separate and covered space forward on the vessel.

Sam smiled at Navale and, with his hand still holding hers, lead her across the transparent deck towards a sitting area, gesturing for her to sit. “We’re going to cruise out to our dinner location, but we can see quite a bit from the back here, and of course you might see something underneath, but there will be more to see at our destination. It’ll get windy, so if you start feeling cold at all, let me know and we can slip into the cabins. There’s a recreation space with windows, so we can still see the sun start to set.”

~Sam, Host of Florence’s

Navale sat at one of the longer benches so Sam could sit with her. “I can’t wait. Even just the little I can see from here is fascinating the change in perspective.” She looked toward the cabins. “Well I hope I won’t. It’s so rarely I get to experience real weather, I’d rather stay out here than miss it.”

Lt. Huzzen, Engineer

The electric motor hummed to life but it was on the quieter side. Ridley steered the boat carefully away from the slip and towards the marina exit.

“When’s the last time you were planetside?” Sam asked.

~Sam, Host of Florence’s

“Hmmm,” Navale thought about it, “about three years. The Corp of Engineers kept us busy. If your project didn’t require you to be planet side you didn’t go. Once a project was done, another started, and there were always ridiculous deadlines.” Navale glanced down at the bottom of the boat and the various colors flashing below and grinned.

Looking back at him, “What about you, Sam?”

Lt. Huzzen, Engineer

“Just before I came aboard the Ogawa, so it’s been awhile,” he said, gazing out towards the sun and closing his eyes against the brightness. The waning light warmed his face and he let himself just exist for a moment, just as he had been taught as a child.

“We’re you with the Ogawa before the decommissioning? Or did you come on board then?” Navale asked.

Looking back at Navale and at the sea below them, the water blurred as the boat picked up speed, finally hitting open water, veering starboard in a gentle arc. “That was the last time I’d been at the ocean too, funny enough.” It wasn’t that he wasn’t open to talking about it, but just that he made him introspective.

~Sam, Host of Florence’s

Navale watched him for a moment before setting her hand over his. “Hey Sam, where did you go?”

Lt. Cmdr. Kane, AMO

“Hmm?” he said as his mind registered her hand. Sam looked down and back up, his grey eyes intense, before he gently turned his hand so hers rested in his, and then gently placed his thumb atop. “You know, I’ve been a bartender longer than I was in Starfleet. My grandparents don’t always quite get why I stayed aboard starships while not being on active duty. I think they assume that because I’m retired from the Fleet, that I’d settle down somewhere. I’ve questioned it too, more than once. The last time was on Betazed before I got the job on the Ogawa. I went to see my mother on Betazed. She’s a Priestess there at the Kholara monastery. It’s on a larger island in the southern hemisphere. I would sit on the beach for hours and often she’d come out and join me, just sitting there… waiting. I don’t know if she was waiting for me to be ready to say something, or just wanted to be there in for her in my own way. Something about then resonated with this evening.” He gave a tiny sheepish grin. “Sorry, that might be a bit deep for a first date. It’s been awhile since I’ve had one of those too.”

~Sam, Host of Florence’s

Navale shrugged, “Is it? I don’t lean towards convention.” She looked out over the water, “I’m glad you feel comfortable enough reflect with me here. Unless of course it means you’re bored.” She flashed him a grin, “and no, that was not a coy bid for a compliment.”

Sam flashed her a grin. “Oh, but I have a list of them, all perfectly true and sincere, I assure you.”

Navale winked at him, “I will keep an ear out for that list, then.”

“What does your mother think of you not ‘settling’ down?”

Lt. Huzzen, Engineer

He leaned back a little, rubbing his thumb back and forth across to the top of her hand. “She believes that the core of who we are should not be confined to a narrow set
of parameters. She told me that I was still on a journey of healing and that whether I stayed in space or not had nothing to do with what I brought into my own life. That if I forced myself to bring in new aspects to my life that I was not ready for, I would do myself and the Universe a disservice.” He smirked. “That whole spiritual study thing of hers has had some interesting benefits, even if it made for a rather unusual upbringing.”

“What do you think? Think she’s right? Woo-woo?” he asked with a grin, though he was truly interested in what her thoughts were on the matter.

~Sam, Host of Florence’s

A soft hum rumbled from her throat as Navale stared out at the water. She watched the light as it refracted in the waves and salt spray. “I’ve never really been a spiritual person. Not to say I don’t believe in it, but growing up on Coridan, you don’t have time to contemplate such things. Not even in a moment of selfpity.”

He focused his gaze on her, taking in each word and the way she said them.

“I think she is right though. It’s basic psychology I guess. If you push yourself before you are ready you can make things worse. Putting it off too long can do the same. Just like the body healing.” She grinned, bumping his shoulder gently. “Just like engineering. If you push a ship’s systems to take on an upgrade before all the parts are in place, the systems and ship will crash. If you wait too long, the older systems will crash from age and lack of upkeep.”

Lt. Huzzen, Engineer

“Exactly my thoughts. Though I will say it’s enticing during tumultuous times to have one’s shields up all the time and put all the resources into keeping them there . Makes it hard to move forward. Though I’ve been able to lower my shields more often in recent years.” Sam smiled again. “Fortunate for me, my timing was excellent this time.”

He turned to face her a bit more, hand still holding hers. “What about now that you aren’t on Coridan? Do you find yourself thinking about or doing things you never had the time or energy for before?”

~Sam, Host of Florence’s